Mr. Speaker, if the member took a moment to look at the BDC study, he would see that the study covers a period which includes the great recession and only goes to 2010. He would also see that in the past three years the annual growth experienced by the firms is 7%, a growth of 20% or more during the same period; 4% average annual sales growth in the past three years. One has to remember, as members opposite tend to forget, that we did go through this world recession in 2008-09, and it did affect firms, but we have come back rather well in Canada.
In the House of Commons on February 13th, 2013. See this statement in context.