One of the other proposals you put forward that interested me was encouraging Canadian companies, for one thing, to constantly increase the skill of their employees, and for another, to reinvest in new equipment and technology, thereby improving productivity and environmental performance.
One of the things the industry committee recommended to the finance minister was the accelerated capital cost allowance for this exact recommendation you're making. We've seen a huge uptake from companies across the country; in particular, Quebec has really picked up on the ability to invest. I believe we're up to about $1.8 billion in the total of new investment in the country since the announcement in the budget, getting at the exact issues you referred to in the recommendation.
One of the points we've heard from a number of our presenters, both when we're talking about the value of the dollar and when we're speaking about pre-budget consultations and what we should do for the manufacturing industry, is that they believe the window is pretty short for this. It was in the 2007 budget, and they're talking about either extending it to five years from the two years that exists or actually going to an additional five years.
What would be your recommendation, and how do you see the benefits, in terms of why you think it's a good idea?