Mr. Speaker, before the government could deal with productivity, we had to get our fiscal house in order. That is why we eliminated the deficit. We are paying down the debt. We are cutting taxes. We have low inflation. We have low interest rates.
Business is responding to this positive environment. In fact machinery and equipment investments were up 18.9% in the year 2000, the fifth consecutive year of strong growth. Corporate taxes will be 5% lower than the combined U.S. state taxes in about nine of the bordering states. We are making the biggest tax cuts in Canadian history and our productivity is turning around.