The member says it is taxes. It is to a degree. I do not disagree with that. They are concerned about taxes, but they also want to pay their fair share of taxes. They want to know that they have a government willing to back programs like the SBLA and not simply throw it out amidst a bunch of Reform Party rhetoric as some kind of subsidy.
They want to ensure that the tax money they pay to the government is used properly to generate growth, create jobs and help them succeed.
Anyone in business today in this country would tell us they are doing reasonably well. Can they do better? Absolutely. Can we have lower taxes? We have already heard the Minister of Finance make a commitment that indeed once we have eliminated the deficit we will start to pay down the horrendous debt which the country has been saddled with and at the same time look at selective tax reduction. It would be my hope that it will be directed in some way toward business.
I often tell the story of the mobile sign that I saw in the province of Ontario when I was the small business advocate which was outside Paul's garage. It said “Our price includes the PST, the GST, the EHT, the MBT, the MPT, the UIC, the WCB and the CPP”. At the bottom it said “We would have included profit but we ran out of room”. I have some sympathy for Paul's garage and for small business.
We have to recognize as a government, as a body politic at all levels of government, that it is our responsibility to make sure the taxes we charge or the fees we charge for workers compensation or for employment insurance are used to the benefit of all Canadians. I believe this government is striving to do that.
I would hope that through programs such as the SBLA, which is being extended by one year with this bill, we will see more new businesses being created which will share the tax burden and provide for the safety net that we have, for our health care system, for the quality of education that we enjoy in this country and for the many benefits that we are so blessed with, which we take for granted.
Members opposite rise in the House every day to tear down those particular programs and institutions. It is their own personal ideology. I understand they are in opposition and they feel they simply must oppose for the sake of opposing. However, I find it amazingly strange that members of a party which considers itself on the right wing of the political spectrum would oppose helping small business. What is the matter with them? There are small businesses in western Canada which would benefit from this very positive program.
This program shows the way governments should operate. Indeed it is not a subsidy. It is a program which says to small business if you are prepared to invest, if you are prepared to work hard, we are prepared to make access to capital a reality in this country. We are prepared to work with the banks and the private sector to allow you, the small business person, to create the jobs, to buy the products and to generate the tax revenue which we all need as Canadians to keep this country going and growing.
I support this bill. I am pleased that many members of the House support it. However, I am saddened that some see it as a political opportunity to make hay and simply oppose what indeed is a financially sound and very important program for all Canadians.