Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to this bill, because its topic is, of course, of interest, and besides the kind of business addressed by this bill is worthy of attention.
What do small businesses mean to us in Quebec and in Canada? These are our corner stores, our hairdressers, our professionals, our dry-cleaners, our restaurant owners, our small manufacturing businesses with three, four or five employees, very small businesses. I believe it is our duty as MPs to take advantage of this opportunity to congratulate them for their labours.
Because they are so much a presence in our daily lives, we are not always really aware of them. When buying a paper, taking shirts or suits in to be cleaned, going to our dentist, we tend not to realize these men and women work very long hours and have a multitude of problems to deal with.
They are always asking themselves: How will I make the money last 'til the end of the month? How can I gain a bigger market share? Can I afford to buy out my competitor? Do I need to think about a strategy agreement with the competition? What am I going to do? Sales are not picking up enough, and the bank is pressuring me.
We all know how the banks operate these days. The six major banks are making billions in profits. As we say in Côte-de-Beaupré, when it's time to pull the plug, so long! You are reminded of your payments, and then you go belly up taking with you one, two, three or five employees with their families, parents, who do not qualify under existing employment insurance regulations. It is a one way ticket to poverty. That is the reality of small businesses.
I think we should take this opportunity to congratulate and thank them. There are some in my riding. I know because I go there regularly. Last week, we were on parliamentary recess, but we were not on holiday. Even though Parliament was not sitting, I am sure that the 301 members in this House did not treat themselves to a week of holidays doing nothing. We worked in our ridings, and I respect parliamentarians for this. I am sure all 301 MPs worked hard last week.
When we are not sitting here, we are working in our riding. Since we in the Bloc Quebecois are sure the Parti Quebecois will be returned in the November 30 election in Quebec, we took the opportunity to meet people and talk with our constituents.
I would like to pay tribute to these business people, to the SMBs in Beauport, Côte-de-Beaupré and Île d'Orléans, in the tourism sector and in all other sectors.
In order to determine the Bloc Quebecois' position on this bill—I think all observers recognize that we are not interested in conventional politics—my colleague, the member for Mercier and Bloc critic for industry, developed and sold to caucus a survey to be sent to small businesses to get their opinions on certain matters.
The 45 Bloc members in caucus could simply have said “We think it should be put this way”. We wanted to consult and hear from those concerned about the topic, those on the front line. We developed a survey, and in my riding of Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île-d'Orléans we are doing the final compilations. I have received some 70 or 75 responses. I want to thank all of those who took the time to fill out the questionnaire.
It was most useful. As my colleague, the hon. member for Mercier, mentioned earlier, I think we have received more than 1,000 questionnaires, perhaps as many as 1,200 by now, and they keep coming in.
I hinted at the problems faced by business people; they do not always have the time, when they receive a letter from their MP, to immediately sit down and fill in a questionnaire. They set it aside until they have a minute available, often at the end of a long day. The owner of a convenience store that closes at 11 p.m. may get around to this kind of thing around midnight or 1 a.m. They must be commended.
Responses keep coming in. We have received approximately 1,200 so far.
Based on these questionnaires, we have been able to develop the Bloc Quebecois' position on Bill C-53. There were a number of expectations regarding this bill. One might have expected it to contain provisions to improve access to credit for small and medium size businesses in Quebec and Canada. One might also have expected a program making credit available to those who might not obtain financing otherwise. We also expected this legislation to provide business people with tools to finance their working capital in order to ensure the growth and development of their businesses.
There is nothing in this bill to improve the situation for small and medium size businesses. Regardless, given its purpose, our party will vote in favour of Bill C-53, as I think my colleague from Mercier indicated. However, we urge the government to very seriously consider the amendments put forward by the Bloc Quebecois to ensure that the legislation truly meets the needs of small business.
We do not want the good news for these businesses to be only that the small business loans program is maintained, but rather that it is maintained and improved. The purpose of our amendments is to correct the deficiencies we have detected.
There will be an opportunity for debate, at committee stage and again at third reading. We urge the government to seriously consider the amendments introduced in good faith by the hon. member for Mercier on behalf of the Bloc Quebecois.
Let me emphasize a few, starting with the first amendment, dealing with section 2 of the act, to ensure the purpose of the act is clearly stated. To some extent, insufficient financing is worse than none at all, since the business cannot grow as it should. This amendment therefore endeavours to clearly define this program to provide financing that would not otherwise be available to small and medium size businesses.
Our second amendment concerns clause 13 and is aimed at broadening the scope of pilot projects to include the financing of working capital in order to ensure the growth of small businesses.
The last two amendments we will be bringing forward concern clauses 18 and 19, and their objective is to go beyond the simple accounting vision of the small business loans program.
After hearing the witnesses who came before the Standing Committee on Industry, we realize that not only are the macroeconomic effects of the program not measured, but they are not even known. Therefore, we are proposing that employment be taken into account in measuring the usefulness of this program.
We need to do more than just tighten up the old SBLA. The Bloc Quebecois believes that the accounting review proposed in this bill cannot be made without assessing the need for economic development. These amendments are vital to economic development and to job creation.
Mr. Speaker, I know you represent an Alberta riding. Look in your riding to see what type of businesses have created jobs over the last five years. Of course we would all like to see major industrial developments creating 2,000, 3,000 or 5,000 jobs. Of course we would all like General Motors to open a plant in our own region and create 1,200 jobs. There is not one single member here who would be stupid enough to say “thanks, but no thanks”. We would all be happy about that.
But who has created jobs in Canada and in Quebec over the last five years? It is not large businesses. Just look at the numbers. I worked in the pulp and paper industry for 14 years. The number of workers in that industry has decreased considerably over the last five years because of modernization and automation.
Who creates jobs and economic development? Small and medium size businesses, and they need the encouragement of this government.