It doesn’t matter which party you favoured: according to Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) president Catherine Swift, there’s reason for small business to celebrate the course — if not the outcome — of this winter’s federal campaign. PROFIT interviewed Swift the morning after the Conservatives squeezed into power.
PROFIT
What’s the top small-business challenge the feds can actually address?
SWIFT
Total tax burden is No. 1. We were happy to see both the Liberals and the Conservatives pick up, word for word, some of the recommendations the CFIB has been making for years.
PROFIT
What issue would you like to have heard more about during the campaign?
SWIFT
The whole area of the paper burden, red tape, regulation. We got the parties’ positions on a whole range of issues, including the red tape, but we would have liked to have seen some real nitty-gritty on how they plan to deal with the productivity-killing paper burden. It costs Canadian businesses $33 billion a year, and that falls disproportionately on smaller firms.
PROFIT
How might a Conservative minority benefit entrepreneurial firms?
SWIFT
Reducing the GST will pump about $8 billion back into the economy. I also hope the Conservatives follow through with their plan to reduce the corporate tax rate on small business, as well as increase the [net income] threshold for the small-business rate from $300,000 to $400,000. With 124 seats [in the House of Commons], it’s not that straightforward, but there are issues that all parties agree on to some degree, and I think they should be able to get the small-business measures through. And all parties agree that continuing to reduce the national debt is very important, because today’s debt is tomorrow’s taxes.
PROFIT
So, should Canadian small businesses be happy with the election results?
SWIFT
I think our issues will be on the agenda, but, given the size of the minority, nothing is clear-cut.
