Finance committee  It would be very helpful to look at that option and compare the tax regimes. One thing the government has done in previous budgets is to note that we have to be competitive with the United States. So this is an area where we should look hard at their tax regime—not just their pub

Finance committee  The U.S. has this 60% double-declining balance, as it's called, and it's in their tax code. We have a company right now that's considering a major investment. They're looking at the Gulf Coast where a lot of the investments are going. Probably a big part of the $72 billion in the

Finance committee  Sure. It's stimulative because it creates incremental investment, i.e., investment that would not normally occur in Canada. As the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada, we are very committed—in fact our strategic plan is to seize the opportunity of this shale gas environment,

Finance committee  Yes. The average wage in our industry is $70,000 to $80,000.

Finance committee  We've seen $3 billion in the last two years, and we think there is about $10 billion out there of potential investment, all of which is marginal and wouldn't be here without the corporate tax plus the ACCA.

Finance committee  I will answer in English. This is at the heart of the real problem we have here. Large capital investments take at least five years to go from planning to implementation. So even with the accelerated capital cost allowance, with an extension of two years, some of these investmen

Finance committee  So it's very important to have long-term tax competitiveness for big projects.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and my thanks to the committee for this opportunity to speak to you. I think the CME has covered most of the general issues, particularly the focus on manufacturing. So I'll just focus on the ACCA and its importance to our particular industry.

Finance committee  There's some corporate memory here.

Transport committee  Just a point. Mr. Mongeau is making a strong argument that service is improving, etc., and that we don't really need this legislation. What I don't really understand in the railway argument.... If you look at proposed amendment one, all this does is say this is what a service agr

Transport committee  It was badly needed and it was pretty good.

Transport committee  I would say it was, with some exceptions.

Transport committee  Maybe I could just add one point. Oh, you're going to....

Transport committee  I can start. This comes back to Mr. Goodale's question as well In our view, without specifying clearly what a service agreement is, we will end up with endless arbitration, and it won't be in the interests of commercial shippers and it will not be in the interest of the railways

Transport committee  It's a very big country, so I think it's unlikely that we will change the network structure dramatically in this country. We will be left with some competition and sites, especially if you think of Pierre's sites, mining sites that are going to be very remote, and even more remot