Mr. Speaker, I rise to discuss Bill C-53 and Motion No. 1 moved by the Bloc. I will continue on from where my hon. colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands left off in regard to what is happening today with small businesses and so-called small business loans.
The government is trying to infuse more money into a very bad situation. I have listened to some of the speeches today. Some members across the way have said how much they have done for small business, yet in the history of Canada the small business bankruptcy rate has never been so high. How much help has this government given small business? Why is our system not working?
This program is already in place and the Liberals want to throw more money into it. They know full well that it will not create a better climate for small business, that it will not help the entrepreneur go ahead. Canadians are overregulated and overtaxed.
Last winter between Christmas and New Year's Day, I had a chance to get away with my wife for a few days. We decided to drive down to the coast of Oregon. A small business conference was going on there. I met a couple of mayors and a bunch of council people from Lincoln, Oregon. We got talking about the difference in business attitude between down there and up here in Canada. They told me of six new companies that had started during a two-week period. They were started by Canadian entrepreneurs who had been chased out of this country by this government.
Members on the other side ask about the American economy. It is coming from our Canadian entrepreneurs who have been chased out of this country. They have been chased out by those people, the government and its overtaxation and overregulation. Do Liberal members think those entrepreneurs are happy there? Do Liberals think those people want to invest $50,000, $100 million or $200 million in this country? They do not. They have no confidence in the ability of this government to help them survive in this economic climate.
Liberals stand up day after day to say how great they have been to Canadian businesses. Let us take a look. There have been 40 increases in taxation since the Liberals have been in power. I will say it very slowly for those on the other side. That is a four with a zero at the end in tax increases. And the Liberals say they are the great saviours of the Canadian business climate. Shame on them. Shame on them for even standing up and saying that. It is total hypocrisy.
This government is like any government before it, like the Conservative and Liberal governments before it: “We will throw more money out there to make us look good. We will have something to throw out there so we can say this is what we tried to do although it did not work. We are so sorry it did not work”. Governments have been trying this from day one in Canada and who has been paying for it? The taxpayers, those who are sitting outside this House, those who are sitting up in the gallery. They are the ones who pay for it.
The Liberals sit on the other side and think they have money. They think they have their own money but they do not. The Liberals have the people's money. They have the workers' money. Look after it for a change. It is total hypocrisy.
The Liberals campaigned that they would get rid of the GST and they would help businesses. They said they would scrap the GST. What did they do? They came along with a better idea, a bigger scam on the people of Canada. They would harmonize the GST. The cost went up another 3% through harmonization. Nice going Mr. and Mrs. Government on the other side. Shame on them. They cannot justify the 40 tax increases, so they will not mention them. They cannot justify any of them. They would sooner have a bill like this one which adds $1.5 billion more to try and address the problem.
The problem has been there since the day the program started. People come to my office time after time wanting to know how they can access the money that is supposed to be there for small business loans. It is not there. Most of them would be far better off going to their families and keeping the government and its regulations out. What kills business is taxes and overregulation.
If this government really wants to do something for the entrepreneur, for the business minded people, if it really wants to keep them in this country and not chase them across the line or to other countries like it is doing today,—it is called the brain drain—then start cutting the taxes. Get out of their faces and let them go ahead and compete. Get rid of the interprovincial tax barriers. Start treating Canadians as human beings instead of digging into their pockets and taking their money any time it feels like it.