Mr. Speaker, I was somewhat astounded by the discussion of the member for St. Albert about the aspect of guarantees somehow being circulatory moneys that small business has to pay in order to support these loans.
Most of us understand the concept of bad debts. I understand the member is an accountant. We all understand that small businesses have accounts receivable and usually make provision for bad debt losses. Indeed, bad debt losses under the Small Business Loans Act have been very small. I think they average out at about 2 per cent.
The member does not seem to understand that in order for the government to protect itself from bad debt losses it needs to find a method to recover a certain amount of cash flow from successful loans. This is no different from any other normal business operation. These are the things I thought the Reform Party would applaud the government for because it is taking a business approach to lending.
The member does not seem to be able to understand the whole concept. It seems to elude him that somehow we are taking money from one pot and putting it into another at the behest of small business operators. Quite frankly, it is normal business practice and something for which the government should be applauded.
The member talked about creating jobs. This program has been around for a considerable length of time. We are now fine tuning it, allowing it to expand. The jobs the member talks about being created by the small business environment, in fact, were assisted by this program. Some of the great jobs he spoke about which have increased over the last number of years have been as a result of the small business loans program.
The member also talked about infrastructure spending and how it is a terrible waste of government money. If we look at the public assets and the whole concept of why there is public administration in the country, it is to build certain public assets that for whatever reason businesses did not want to build, such as airports, roads, sewer systems, et cetera. The member does not seem to understand that is still a commitment of government in most places in the country and it does create jobs.
I would like to ask the member whether he understands fully the concept of guarantees and of making provision for guarantees?