Mr. Speaker, small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy. They are the engine. I have so many small businesses in my riding of Mississauga EastâCooksville.
I can tell the member that they have come to me. The Canada child benefit has made a difference to those businesses. That extra spending money that those families now have means they can buy that winter coat at this time of year, or put their kids in soccer or in music class, or provide more for their children. It is an investment, and that investment also moves in to those small and medium-sized businesses.
The same thing happened with our middle-class tax cut. That means more money in the hands of more people in the middle class, and being able to spend that money within the local economy, because these businesses are local, and they make such a difference. They are employers of many people in our community.
I say to the member that these are investments that will have a major impact on our small and medium-sized businesses.