Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his very good question. It allows me to elaborate on the subject.
This decision will be extremely detrimental. The government has not proven that the tax credit should be eliminated. On the contrary, the witnesses we heard from in committee criticized this government measure, especially the witnesses from Canada's Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, which represents private venture capital and labour-sponsored venture capital funds.
Canada is at the back of the pack when it comes to venture capital. It is very hard to raise venture capital in Canada. Quebec accounts for 90% of the tax credits for labour-sponsored funds, which shows how important labour-sponsored funds are to Quebeckers. Quebec is at the top of the list after the United States and Israel, when we look at OECD countries.
Some 45% of the venture capital invested by private venture capital organizations comes from labour-sponsored funds. A symbiotic relationship between private funds and labour-sponsored funds is what makes the Quebec model work.
Currently, 169,000 jobs are being maintained or were created by labour-sponsored funds in Quebec. Again, 169,000 jobs. In the past 10 years, more than 500,000 jobs have been maintained or created by labour-sponsored funds.
The last thing I want to say about this is that the testimony in committee showed us that getting rid of the tax credit might lead to the loss of 20,000 jobs in Quebec. Is that what the government calls job creation?