Mr. Speaker, I always have time for the hon. member for Abbotsford. I am always happy to chat with him.
On the trade front, there is the renegotiation of CUSMA, getting CETA over the finish line and reinforcing our trade relations with Europe and with other parts of the country.
I do wish to talk about small businesses as well, because small businesses are the backbone of our communities and the backbone of our economy. The city of Vaughan has 350,000 residents, and 20,000 SMEs operate in our city. We are blessed with an entrepreneurial and generous spirit second to none in any of the ridings. We did lower the tax rate from 11% to 9%. We also increased the investable capital, where one qualifies for the small business tax rate. This is generating hundreds of millions of dollars of tax savings. It was in budget 2022 if I remember correctly.
On October 19, we will celebrate and mark again the lowering of credit card fees for small businesses. The first time we did, it meant a billion dollars in savings for small businesses. We are helping small businesses grow. We had the backs of small businesses during the pandemic. We were there for them. They went through a tough time. I know that the restaurants in my riding went through a tough time, as well as the small businesses, when they were shut down by the provincial government and with the imposition of measures, but we were there for them.
In my concluding remarks, I go back to my comments at the beginning of my speech. We live in a blessed country. We are all of different faiths in this place, and we all attend church. I have my favourite psalms, psalms 91, 35 and 36, which I say to myself on a daily basis. We live in a beautiful country and a blessed country. My kids are growing up and I see their interactions with their friends, and there is an optimism, I think. We have gone through a lot with COVID, a global pandemic, the war in Ukraine, supply shocks and global inflation we had not seen in decades. However, our future is bright, and no one can take that away.
I look forward to questions from my hon. colleagues.