Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. I will give him a short answer then I will give him a long answer.
Small and medium enterprises do need access to capital. The loan guarantee program is actually filling the gaps in marginal loans which are covered under the Small Business Loans Act. Without that program certain firms would not have the access to capital they currently have under this program.
One of the most democratic institutions we have is the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses with has 88,000 members. It is clearly the position of the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses that the Small Business Loans Act is a good program. It is something that should be continued. It should not be expanded to the degree we currently have for accessing loans of nearly a quarter of a million dollars. It should be smaller, it should be tightened up, it should be more responsive to actually fill the gaps for loans that banks would not otherwise be granting.
In terms of Reform supporting small businesses, in our platform we advocated reducing the small business tax rate from 12% to 8%. I am sure my colleagues to my right remember that.
The Reform Party advocated a flat tax during the last election campaign. Stephen Harper, who could be the leader in waiting of the Reform Party, said that small business income could be rolled into a flat tax income. That means Reform would tax small business in the neighbourhood of 22%, 23% or 24%. I do not think that is very good for small business.