Finance committee  This has been a tricky issue. In member surveys, we get mixed views from small business owners. There's no question that many small firms struggle to have employee benefit plans that are anywhere close to being as generous as those for positions in the government or in large corp

Finance committee  You have that survey in front of you, and I trust the data is correct. I would say that a 2:1 ratio is supportive. We don't have price tags in front of small business owners, so there is that.

Finance committee  We like some of the amendments to the competition laws in Canada. This is a big deal for small firms. There's been so much consolidation. Small firms feel like they have very little bargaining power with some of the large oligopolies and monopolies that exist in Canada, so it is

Finance committee  We have a more detailed submission, and I'll be very pleased to send it to the committee with some further recommendations on this front. However, I will say that the U.S., for example, has, in many respects, stronger competition rules than Canada does, so we've borrowed from a f

Finance committee  I'm sorry, but my French, Monsieur Ste-Marie, is not perfect. Unfortunately, the audio dropped off almost altogether over the last minute or so. The interpretation stopped, and then the audio stopped altogether.

Finance committee  This is an issue we've heard about from several sectors of the economy. The right to repair—the right to access and understand things—for those doing the repair work and for the end-user is very important. With some of the market power that exists among some of the large guys, th

Finance committee  I can't say that we've done a detailed study of the specific initiatives in the new round of announcements that have come forward. However, I will say that in our survey last year related to the budget implementation, the housing issues shot up as a concern on the part of employe

Finance committee  We were thrilled when the government reduced the planned inflationary increase on liquor excise taxes, and I think the measure taken with respect to beer is a very positive one. You're absolutely right. For craft brewers, that is a big deal. When we look at liquor taxes more bro

Finance committee  The sectors that we know are having the hardest time with repayment are retail, hospitality, service, arts and entertainment, travel and tourism. These are the sectors that, of course, endured the lockdown measures the longest and probably have the longest road to recovery. I wi

Finance committee  I think $31 million out of $2.5 billion went back in the first bit of this. Basically, there's $2.5 billion or $2.6 billion sitting on the accounts of the Government of Canada.

Finance committee  There's no possible way you can claim the carbon tax is revenue-neutral while the Government of Canada is sitting on two and a half billion dollars owed to small businesses.

Finance committee  Well, they speak for themselves. My association brings their data forward to you. Today, you're absolutely right. Eighty-two per cent of small businesses across Canada, from our most recent member touchpoint, oppose the retail carbon tax as it exists today. I will add that, j

Finance committee  I'm sorry. Our members' position right now—

Finance committee  My association's position is my members' position.

Finance committee  I have no views other than those. Our members' position—and mine—is that a strong majority of small firms advocate to get rid of the retail carbon tax.