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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 12

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 7, 2021 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 12 - Dec/7/21
Mrs. Tracy Gray (Kelowna—Lake Country, CPC)
  • Dec/7/21 10:53:40 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-2 
Madam Speaker, it is a privilege to be here at this very late hour to be granted an adjournment debate on the labour crisis. The government's recent economic recovery speech said it was committed to leaving no worker or region behind, yet nowhere in the speech was there a single mention of the labour shortages that thousands of small and medium-sized businesses face. Leaving small businesses adrift is a roadblock to our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. As the member of Parliament for Kelowna—Lake Country, my local businesses are feeling the crunch of not having the staffing levels necessary to offer their goods and services like they are used to. Jason Davis, who operates the Okanagan branch of a security company, told me that a significant drop in employee candidates has left the company running at a loss. They estimate losing over $100,000 in contractually guaranteed revenue because of lost staffing coverage. That is in addition to the hundreds of thousands more they have been forced to incur in penalties for not meeting contractual obligations, higher costs of recruitment and the inability to take on any new work. This is similar to stories I hear from many business owners. Working in security, they are able to see how labour shortages have been damaging to their sector and the many other businesses they work with. However, employers like Jason are not coming to my office just to talk about difficulties. They are coming to me with solutions. He has suggestions on the temporary foreign worker program, and this side of the House has similarly looked at offering solutions to tackling this labour crisis. Along with the chairman of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association, I have already sent a letter to the Minister of Immigration asking him to extend working visas that have expired for people already in Canada. This is an easy fix, yet so far we have received no response and the government is silent. Ignoring our warnings on this labour crisis will not make the problem disappear. It will leave our recovery on the rocks. Statistics Canada said that in September there were over one million job vacancies. During that same month, there were about a million people on the CRB. RBC Economics reported that one in every three businesses is grappling with labour shortages. A report from the government's own Business Development Bank says that 55% of entrepreneurs struggle to hire the workers they need. We do not have to let this country run into a growing iceberg. We can choose to take action to ensure our recovery lifts up all businesses and workers. We can ensure that Canadians continue to be employed at good-paying jobs that support their communities with affordable goods and services. We need to get people who are able to work back to work. We can keep Canadians spending at small businesses by tackling skyrocketing inflation, which is escalating gas and grocery bills. We can strengthen our supply chains by ensuring Canadian warehouses, ports and trucking companies have the staff to meet their needs. We can address the increasing debt that small businesses are currently carrying, with an average of $170,000 in new debt. We can address rising costs for small businesses by halting federal payroll tax increases. I urge the government to take note of these and the many more ideas expressed by my colleagues across partisan divides. Rushed legislation like Bill C-2 will not solve staffing shortages. I ask the government to work collaboratively in the House to tackle the growing labour shortage threats that are crippling small business and impeding our economic recovery.
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Context: House Hansard - 12 - Dec/7/21
Mrs. Tracy Gray
  • Dec/7/21 11:00:54 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, let me again remind the government why small business labour shortages in our economy matter. Small businesses represent about 70% of Canadians employed in the private sector. Out of every 20 businesses employing Canadians, 19 are small businesses. They are the greatest driver of innovation and prosperity in this country and are the ground level for our economic success. Statistics Canada's most recent survey of business conditions shows more than one in four businesses expect its profitability to decline by the end of the year. The government's inaction on this labour crisis will only cause more stress to entrepreneurs working longer hours and more businesses folding in the new year. Keeping Canadians employed in good-paying jobs should be an essential priority for the government, but without a small business sector that is thriving, not just barely surviving, those jobs will not be there to go back to.
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