Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question and for the excellent work he does as the small business critic and as a former business owner.
I think that is an important distinction to make. The Prime Minister did indeed take aim at small and medium-sized businesses both through his comments during the election campaign and in some of the policies that have been brought in. As I said, when I go back to my riding, I talk to people who are having a very hard time paying their rent or paying for groceries. I also talk to chambers of commerce, business owners, and small and medium-sized enterprises who, compared to some who are struggling, seem to be better off because they have enjoyed some success. As my colleague knows, it is not always as black and white as all that.
The Canada Revenue Agency makes it their priority to go after people like that. If this were being handled fairly we would not be talking about it. That is the problem. The problem is that these policies have totally missed the mark.
As I said in response to another colleague, every time we hear the government talk about this issue in the media, more often than not it is talking about its association with bad players instead of what it is doing to tackle the issue. There are such simple things the government could do, things that it has had plenty of time to do since coming to power. I find it all so terribly disappointing.
I will come back to the last point my colleague raised. It is clear that the directives given to the CRA need to be reviewed, not just to avoid targeting businesses, but, as my colleague said earlier, to stop primarily targeting the sick or single mothers. The minister has the power to do that. This should be a priority.