Finance committee  I would just add this quickly, to note that the U.S. does have a five-year ACCA window that they brought in in 2007. So just from the point of view of competitiveness and a level playing field with companies in the U.S., the government should think about the same thing here.

Finance committee  I think it remains a valid request. I'll just speak for the industry I'm familiar with, and that's mining, mineral processing, and metals. Things turned down from late 2008 to pretty early in 2009, but metal prices have come back fairly strongly—nickel, copper, zinc, etc.—and com

Finance committee  I'm sorry, but you asked...?

Finance committee  No, it's not a huge issue that I'm aware of. But as I mentioned earlier, companies think the program is fairly paperwork-intensive and bureaucratic and that there's a lot of room to improve the administration and process of that program.

Finance committee  On the point of accelerated capital cost allowance, I'm not sure that governments have given the industry what they've asked for on that front. As my colleague mentioned earlier, it takes a long time for companies to get approvals, do the engineering, order the equipment, prepare

Finance committee  It's not as big an issue for our mining and processing industry as for some other industries, such as high tech and computers, etc. All industries feel that the whole system can be made much more efficient. Never mind the size of the incentive; just the administration and design

Finance committee  I would just say that taxes are one very important component of what companies look for when they are investing. There are a number of other considerations involving project approval and regulatory efficiency and other considerations. But certainly tax competitiveness is a very i

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. My name is Paul Stothart. My day job is vice-president of economic affairs with the Mining Association of Canada. The Mining Association has also submitted a paper to this committee. The mining industry accounts for about 19% of Canada's goods exports. I