Mr. Speaker, I listened with great intent to the member for Edmonton—Strathcona.
I am very surprised the Reform Party has taken the position today to argue against the Small Business Loans Act, an act which has been in place for over 37 years. It has been very successful. I think the member earlier said if it has been around for 37 years, what is wrong with it? Something that has been around for 37 years is a testament to its success and the need for it within our economy.
The member seems to talk about a perfect world. Maybe on the Reform benches it is Christmas every day, I do not know, but the reality is that it is not a perfect world.
Institutions not only in Canada but worldwide and banks often are short term lenders. They lend basically on current assets. This program addresses the concern for longer term assets, fixed assets. We talked about capital leases earlier. This is money that actually goes over a longer period of time.
The member talks about a burden on the taxpayers of Canada but the reality is that these are also the employers. These are the people who get jobs from these very businesses. They are also the taxpayers. We have created jobs. We have created taxpayers by assisting these businesses.
The member seems to think the SBLA program is a subsidy. He talks about the program as if it is a subsidy. I can assure him that people applying for these loans face the same screening devices as for any other form of loans and they are rejected on the same basis.
The member talks about a 5.6% default rate, but he fails to acknowledge the fact that 94% of these loans are successful. I suggest to the member that in spite of what he wants to do in the regulatory environment of banks that without government support in this area of those 94% of successful loans, those successful jobs would never have been created.
I am very surprised that the member and his party would be opposed to the best interests of small and medium size businesses today. I would like him to comment on that.