Mr. Speaker, first I would caution the Minister of Finance not to speak too loudly of Reform ideas because it usually takes about a year for a Reform idea to end up being Liberal policy, as we all know.
Catherine Swift, the president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, wrote a letter to the Canada pension plan review committee. In it she wrote: "Increases in CPP premiums to as high as 10 per cent would be massively disruptive to small business finances and employment levels". The premium increase announced by the Minister of Finance to 9.9 per cent will cost a company with 100 employees $130,000.
Where will that money come from to pay this increase in taxes? Why will the government not link an increase in CPP premiums to a decrease in the UI premiums?