Mr. Speaker, the member just said that this government cares about small business.
I come from a region where unemployment is very high. I know the importance of making sure that small and medium size businesses are not only going to be created but that they are going to survive.
Through changes to employment insurance, $927 million has been taken out of the New Brunswick economy. We have the HST of 15% on electricity, heating fuel and children's clothing. We have toll highways that have already been paid for by both the federal and provincial governments, but they are going to cost thousands and thousands of dollars for the same small and medium size businesses that this member is saying the government cares so much about.
Members should take a look at the communities, which have been deprived of $927 million. That money was removed from rural communities where the unemployment rate was very high, where people received unemployment insurance benefits. Small businesses in these communities are not only suffering, they are closing.
The hon. member just said that her government is doing everything it can to help small and medium size businesses. How can she reconcile that statement with the fact that employers in New Brunswick have all these burdens to contend with?