Mr. Speaker, the Conservative member's question leaves me a little perplexed because, to my knowledge, this is not Europe. Unlike the Conservatives, who refused our request, we in the NDP want to reduce the tax rate for small business. We do not want to raise taxes; we want to lower them for small businesses. Instead of 11% for small businesses, we would like to reduce that by 2 percentage points to 9%. This 2% difference would give small businesses the flexibility they need to hire new employees. This would do a world of good, especially in small towns. Anyone who is just starting up a small business does not want a high tax rate. The first five years are already difficult enough.
In short, this is not Europe and the NDP wants to lower taxes for Canadians who own small businesses.