Since that time I have moved over to the natural resource committee, serving as the the Reform forestry critic. I attended meetings with representatives of the forest industry all across Canada. One of the answers I often heard was to put an end to federal grants to the forest industry. The forest industry may apply for those grants but they apply only because their competitors do so. If one business in the field gets a federal grant and another business in the same field does not, it gives the first one an unfair competitive advantage over the other.
Nobody is more competitive than a logger.
I feel certain that the same is true of Canadian business and industry across this great country. Individual business owners want to be free of government. They want to be free of the red tape required to complete the application forms. However, if their competitor is applying for and likely getting a grant, then businesses needing to compete must do the same. In conclusion, I want to emphasize that grants to businesses and industry must end.