Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Jeanne-Le Ber, who does such a fine job on the Standing Committee on Finance. He is quite right. The Bloc’s suggestion of a refundable tax credit is easy to understand. The tax credits proposed by the government will not do anything for the forestry and manufacturing businesses that are not profitable in these difficult times. On the other hand, a refundable tax credit would produce some income for them. If the government issues them a cheque in the amount of their tax credit for the current year, they can use it to modernize, even though they do not have any income or profits.
Once again we are faced with this Conservative trait of not understanding the real needs. It is hard, especially when the Conservative members from Quebec are incapable of rising in the House to defend the interests of their constituents and the working people who have lost their jobs or are on the verge of losing them. The crisis in the forestry and manufacturing sectors means that companies are being merged and taken over. Sawmills and other forestry operations are being shut down in our villages. We are very much aware of this.
My colleague’s proposal of a refundable tax credit rather a tax credit for future use when companies have returned to profitability would be much more effective. It would be of direct assistance to companies and would help them modernize, create added-value products and expand, rather than remaining mired in losses and penury.