Madam Speaker, it is an honour for me to rise in the House.
Before I got into politics, I was the secretary to the Fédération de la relève agricole de l'Abitibi—Témiscamingue. My colleague, the member for Brandon—Souris, might be interested to know that.
The matter of transfers, particularly transfers to family members, is very important in Abitibi—Témiscamingue. I remember participating in a workshop about transfers hosted by the Réseau Agriconseils. A number of people attended because they were concerned about this issue, particularly since land value is different in Abitibi—Témiscamingue. Since our land is worth less than land in other parts of Quebec, it cannot be used as security as often. That is not the subject of this speech, but it is relevant when we are talking about the facility of transfer when a business is being transferred to a family member.
I had the opportunity to talk about this when I participated in the convention of the Fédération de la relève agricole du Québec, which took place in March in Rouyn-Noranda, located in my riding of Abitibi—Témiscamingue. As impossible as it may seem, still today, business owners are better off transferring their business to external shareholders than to a member of their own family.
I want to thank the member for Brandon—Souris for introducing his bill. I would have liked to introduce it myself, much like the member for Berthier—Maskinongé, as it is a fundamental issue. The Bloc Québécois supports Bill C-208. For several years now, my party has been calling for measures to encourage and facilitate the transfer of family businesses, especially in the agriculture and fisheries sectors. In fact, I would point out to my colleagues in the House that the member for Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères introduced Bill C-275, an act to amend the Income Tax Act regarding business transfer in the previous Parliament.
The Bloc Québécois has been calling for measures to encourage and facilitate the transfer of family businesses for more than 15 years. For Quebeckers, for the Bloc Québécois, and for me, business succession is important. The next generation is important for the future of our SMEs in general, but especially for the family farming businesses in the Abitibi—Témiscamingue region.
Business succession is a major and promising phenomenon across Canada and especially in Quebec. Nearly one-third of Quebec's small and medium-sized businesses were buy-outs. In 2017, one-quarter of Canadian SMEs were takeovers. In Quebec, the majority of business buy-outs are in rural areas, where 44% of the SMEs belong to entrepreneurs who have taken over a business. In Canada, that figure is around 31%, according to UQTR professor Marc Duhamel, a regular researcher at the UQTR's small business research institute. Unfortunately, the government's unfavourable tax rules do little to encourage business succession.
The risk of sales to foreign buyers and businesses being lost is very real. In 2018, it was estimated that between 30,000 and 60,000 Quebec businesses would not find a buyer in the years to come and would die as a result. That represents around 150,000 jobs and $8 billion to $10 billion in revenue.
Right now, Quebec is losing one farm a day. That is alarming. The risk of sales to foreign buyers and businesses being lost is very real. In Quebec, the next generation of entrepreneurs is suffering badly. Unfortunately, this Parliament is not doing enough to support business succession.
Why does the Liberal Party not want to put a family member on equal ground with a foreign investor? Here are the facts. Under the existing legislation, the transfer of a business to a family member is treated as a dividend and not as a capital gain, unlike a sale to a third party. As a result, owners are not entitled to the lifetime capital gains exemption if they decide to sell the business to their children. The existing legislation is an affront to common sense.
Why does the Liberal Party of Canada refuse to amend the Income Tax Act? As we just heard, they appear to be worried about condoning tax evasion. That would explain why the Income Tax Act makes no mention of the notions of transferring, shuttering or selling a small business to a family member, for fear of potential abuse or tax fraud. If abuse and tax fraud are actual reasons, I am having trouble understanding why the Liberal Party continues to do nothing about tax havens.
As the member of Parliament for Abitibi—Témiscamingue, I have had the honour, along with members of my team, to speak with many farmers in my region week after week. I want to acknowledge the president of the Fédération de la relève agricole, Meghan Jarry. The federation and all business owners in Quebec see business succession as a key way to stop the outflow of businesses and Quebeckers to urban centres and to make it easier for young entrepreneurs to take over the family business.
Business succession is essential for Abitibi—Témiscamingue. It is essential for all of Quebec. The future of the Abitibi—Témiscamingue region is in the hands of the next generation of farmers.
I want to quote a farmer from the region, Simon Leblond, who is also a friend and a member of the Fédération de la relève agricole du Québec. He was the president of FRAQ when I was the secretary there. He said the following:
I am certainly going to have challenges, starting with the financing and development of my company, of course. There are also other issues unique to my region, including maintaining a large enough pool of producers to maintain services for farms and, more generally, to ensure the vitality of the industry and make it known to those outside the world of agriculture.
The next generation of farmers is essential because it ensures the vitality of agriculture, which in turn ensures the vitality of the towns in our regions. The vitality of our regions ensures the vitality of Quebec, the dynamic use of our land.
I think we need to talk about distress. In Abitibi-Témiscamingue and other parts of Quebec, farmers young and old are struggling. They have to deal with red tape, paperwork, long hours of work, their roles as mothers or fathers, bills, the stress of everyday life, the stress of being in debt, equipment that breaks down and has to be repaired or replaced, short production and crop seasons, poor weather conditions and all of the other pressures they are under.
Farmers are in real distress. Encouraging and facilitating the transfer of family businesses could alleviate some of that distress. I think that is an important reason for members of the House to support Bill C-208.
Now I would like to talk about what things are really like for new farmers. We all know farmers are stubborn and tenacious people. They are probably the most resilient members of our society. Young farmers are constantly looking for ways to access assets and encourage the transfer and start-up of agricultural businesses in Quebec. They face major challenges, including land grabbing and land financialization, income security, vet services for farm animals, crop insurance and agricultural drainage. These are major challenges. Improving access to land and improving quality of life for Quebec's young farmers is one way to ensure a future in agriculture for Quebec's youth.
It is the duty of this Parliament to create conditions conducive to establishing the next generation of farmers in order to attract that next generation and secure the future of small and medium family farms. That cannot happen without easier access to land. Transferring a farm is the best way to get a start in farming because starting a farm from scratch is very hard.
On top of that, land prices, the cost of quotas and production standards are increasing every year. Farm values are increasing. It takes longer and longer and is increasingly difficult to transfer the farm to one's children. Paying back the loans needed to purchase a farm takes so long and the red tape is becoming increasingly cumbersome, making it increasingly difficult for farmers to access land and operate their businesses. Farmers want the process for purchasing a farm to be simplified. Some are calling for a single-desk model to avoid having to speak to too many stakeholders in a transfer process. Everything I have mentioned from the beginning of my speech reflects opinions expressed by the Fédération de la relève agricole du Québec, which works to improve the lives of young farmers in Quebec.
Just today, actually, I spoke with Julie Bissonnette, the president of the FRAC, and its executive director, Philippe Pagé. Regarding the transfer of a family farm, the Fédération de la relève agricole du Québec is unanimous: It is just wrong that it is more advantageous to sell the family farm to a stranger than to a family member. Julie Bissonnette told me today that she is always asked about this issue no matter where she goes. Young farmers in Quebec and the Abitibi—Témiscamingue region have been calling for legislative changes for several years now.
She also told me that it was a problem on both sides. The transferors also want this to change. The oldest farmers in Abitibi-Témiscamingue want to transfer their farms to family members. This means that local farming will be put on hold. Dozens, if not hundreds of young future farmers and transferors want to be able to make transactions. This is a global issue. This desire to transfer their farm to their children is part of what has been driving older farmers to work as hard as they do and invest so much time in it for 30, 40 or 50 years. It may even span two, three, four or five generations. Farmers work like mad to provide a future to their kids. Selling their farm to a stranger can lead to feelings of failure or profound grief.
For farmers, it is a big step to hand over the farm to their children out of love and devotion. That is what I have heard from FRAQ members, young and old alike, who feel concerned. Their greatest wish is to be able to hand over their farms to their families.
I will conclude by mentioning that the tax arguments raised when the last point was rejected do not hold up well if we look at the PBO study. In my opinion, if things are not moving right now, it is because there is a flagrant lack of political will on the part of the Government of Canada. This lack of will needs to stop, and that is why the Bloc Québécois supports Bill C-208.
I expect the House to unanimously support this bill in order to prevent this outflow of people to urban centres and to foster the entrepreneurial spirit of our young farmers.