Finance committee  I think you'd see that in the much-vaunted global rankings of where countries stand, we would tumble even further than we have fallen now. Every government has to wrestle with the trade-off between growth and redistribution, and I think it's fair to say that the government we have today places more emphasis on the redistribution part.

Finance committee  I agree with Carolyn Rogers. I think you could characterize this as an emergency. It's a long-standing emergency. The productivity crisis actually predates this government, so it's been a long time coming. I certainly know that governments have been aware of the problem. There is no magic bullet.

Finance committee  It's obviously been very negative. I think that in a lot of cases, businesses can be broadly categorized in this country into two groups. There are ones that like the status quo. They like the situation and they want to be protected and they want to be coddled. They're afraid of competition.

Finance committee  I would certainly agree that the carbon tax is a contributor to the inflation rate. I think it is obviously not responsible for the entire rate of inflation, but it is a contributor. It is a cost, so yes, this is a lever within government's control. Inflation is a mixture of factors outside the government's control and decisions that the government makes, and the carbon tax is a decision that the government has made, so it is contributing to inflation.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Thank you very much to the committee for the invitation to appear today on behalf of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute. We are a public policy think tank located right here in the nation's capital, and we're here to offer some comments on Bill C-59.

Industry committee  Yes. I think there was a ceiling. There has always been the debate over the small business tax rate as well. It means that you create disincentives for businesses to become bigger. I think anything that smooths out that process, that makes it easier, that creates fewer barriers for businesses to go from small to medium to large is a good thing.

Industry committee  Well, I think first of all that the pandemic is obviously a special circumstance, so I think the usual arguments against government subsidies to private business probably don't apply in the pandemic circumstance. Otherwise, no, I think the wisdom of subsidies should be questioned significantly.

Industry committee  Absolutely, I don't think anybody argues against the measures. You can play Monday morning quarterback on it, but they had to move quickly, and so they weren't going to be perfect.

Industry committee  Yes, I would agree. I would also say that some small businesses, by their nature, are just never going to be big. Think of a lot of these small businesses in communities. Don't get me wrong; I patronize a lot of them myself. They may run a small restaurant; they may run a small business in their local area; they may provide a good life to support a family or have a dozen employees.

Industry committee  The regulatory burden has already been brought up. I think there is room for government support here. For example, Mr. Blanchet's presentation is an intriguing example. There are lots of entrepreneurs who know their craft, who know their industry, but they don't know how to leverage technology, so anything governments can do to connect these businesses to technology will make them more productive and give them a better shot at getting bigger.

Industry committee  I would suggest that this would be unwise. I think oftentimes governments face a choice between doing very many things not so well or fewer things better. I think now is the time for the latter. Look, there's always going to be a debate in this country about how much government should do.

Industry committee  I think the obvious answer is no, they don't. I don't think any business owner is telling you that they're desperate for more rules and more paperwork to fill out. We do need to look at streamlining. It is a constant battle, and every jurisdiction faces this. A lot of regulation that is brought in is well-meaning, but that needs to be weighed against the administrative burden and, frankly, against the burden that already exists.

Industry committee  As a general rule, it's very good to have practitioners participate in the process in anything that you're doing, such as a study or having a commission look at something. Again, I believe most people who run for office and serve as politicians mean well, but it's very different from having the first-hand experience on the ground, so it's very important to be at the table.

Industry committee  Obviously the tax burden is a cost like any other cost a business faces. Higher costs make it harder to stay afloat. As a general principle, I think if you're going to raise taxes on the citizenry, you should have to face a vote in Parliament and face the music, so to speak. Otherwise, the public has very little recourse and very little defence against taxes that are raised automatically.

Industry committee  In short, they're discouraging. To be fair, other jurisdictions face most of these problems to a different degree. I think it's unique to Canada that the housing issue is outsized relative to most of our peer countries. In our view at MLI, this is primarily, but not solely, a supply issue.