Finance committee  I'm not the best-positioned person to speak on the temporary foreign workers program. I can say, though, that we continually hear the need for Canadian businesses to attract the best talent in the world. Our immigration system needs to be designed to allow that to happen.

Finance committee  We're absolutely in favour of infrastructure spending. We would caution, though, that it is in accordance with the economic situation. If we are into a recession period, then stimulus is required, of course, but it should be at the level that's appropriate as dictated by the econ

Finance committee  Yes, definitely, that is something that we support. Actually, there's a great report by Jack Mintz and Philip Bazel on establishing agencies that will look at infrastructure needs and find a way to prioritize infrastructure spending, and also looking at things, as you mentioned,

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  We would favour a couple of things. First, trade enabling infrastructure is key, so ports, rail, roads, transportation. For example, Port Metro Vancouver is looking to expand its Roberts Bank terminal. That's a good example. That will help shipping flows to the Pacific, so it's v

Finance committee  We do not think that infrastructure spending right now.... The lag time is too long to counteract the current downturn. Most studies show that you need about 12 months for infrastructure spending to actually have an impact on the real economy. Obviously, this is debatable, but th

Finance committee  It's a fair analogy unless there are projects that are truly shovel-ready. We use that term a lot, but I think there are very few that are truly in that position.

Finance committee  You're exactly right. Certainty is what absolutely drives major business investment decisions. Look at the current downturn in business investment in Canada. A lot of that is stemming from the oil and gas sector, and it's obvious why that's the case. When the price of oil has dec

Finance committee  Thank you for the question. Specifically on raising the excise tax on gasoline, we don't have a view on that yet. What I will say, related to my comments around tax reform, is that we've surveyed our members. We survey them every year to see the number of taxes that they pay, a

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Committee members, thank you for the invitation to take part in your pre-budget consultations. The Business Council of Canada represents the chief executives and entrepreneurs of 150 leading Canadian companies in all sectors of the economy. Our member c