- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Conservative
- Kelowna—Lake Country
- British Columbia
- Voting Attendance: 68%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $131,412.70
- Government Page
Madam Speaker, Bill C-35 prioritizes child care facilities that are government run and not-for-profit. It does not prioritize small businesses and entrepreneurs, many of whom are are run by women entrepreneurs, even if those locations are licenced and regulated by the respective provincial governments. Why would a Liberal government that touts itself to be a feminist government not prioritize young women entrepreneurs in this legislation?
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- Mar/28/23 2:54:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this just shows how completely out of touch the government is with small businesses.
I represent thousands of people in my community who work at wineries, breweries, cideries and distilleries, and I have seen how hard business owners like Richard have worked. I have seen how hard Richard has worked planting his vineyard, going to school and building a small winery, and the struggles he has had, whether they have been bears eating his grapes or the government increasing his taxes. After 40-high inflation, Richard cannot afford the Liberal plan for a 6% excise tax increase that would crush his bottom line.
Will the Liberals listen to small business owners like Richard and cancel the April 1 excise tax increase in today's budget?
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Madam Speaker, I think a part of the piece of legislation is that we really do not have the details, and that is part of the concern, so I am hoping that, if it goes forward to committee, some of that could be worked out, because that is part of the concern right now.
We have the topic and we know what the overarching desire is and what the fines may be, but we do not actually know what all of the regulations would be, and that does raise a lot of concerns, especially for small businesses that do not really know at this point what the bill would mean for them. Hopefully that will come out at committee and there will be more information added, potentially as amendments to the bill.
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- Nov/28/22 2:11:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with the cost of living and record-high inflation, small businesses have been forced to bear the brunt of cost increases, which are hitting them hard after more than two years of challenges.
According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, small businesses have incurred, on average, $150,000 in new debt, yet what Christmas gifts are the Liberals giving them for 2023? Tax increases.
Carbon tax increases add costs to their heating bills and anything that is shipped. There is the payroll tax increase and an automatic tax increase on beer, wine, ciders and spirits, affecting beverage production and hospitality industries.
It is no wonder that one in six Canadian small business is considering closing its doors.
A female entrepreneur from my community recently told me that she was making the tough decision to raise her prices, knowing that it would affect her clients, and that she held off as long as she could. Small businesses are among the most affected by inflation and they are making tough decisions every day.
Only the Conservatives will axe the carbon tax on gas, groceries and heating and give our small businesses the breaks they need now.
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- Oct/7/22 11:35:47 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, with 62% of small businesses still carrying debt from the pandemic, and 54% reporting below normal sales, raising any of their taxes is nothing short of cold hearted, yet the Liberal tax hikes will triple the carbon tax on transporting goods, heating storefronts and cooking food on gas stoves.
Will the Liberal government cancel their plans to triple the carbon tax on small businesses?
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- Oct/3/22 2:45:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is reported that one in six small businesses are having such a tough time that they are considering closing. Restaurants Canada reports that 85% of restaurants have taken on new debt, yet the Liberal government defends forcing payroll tax increases on small businesses. The associate minister of finance said, on payroll tax increases, that small businesses “can afford” this, and the finance minister herself admitted that raising EI premiums would bring in an extra $2.5 billion.
Will the government end its planned tax hikes on small businesses?
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- Sep/29/22 4:30:01 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am sorry that I am stuck on talking about small businesses, which are actually the backbone of our Canadian economy and the backbone of communities all across the country. Right now, with the situation we are in, and I talked a lot about small businesses, they are experiencing crushing debt. They cannot even afford to pay some of their bills.
While the member is chirping at me and not allowing me to answer, small businesses are in a situation right now where one in six are considering closing. That is the reality. That is the situation they are in. Now is not the time to be increasing any taxes that affect people and small businesses.
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- Sep/20/22 3:06:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, small businesses will be among the hardest hit by planned Liberal tax hikes.
First is the planned payroll tax increase forces them to pay more taxes on wages. Second is the Liberal plan to triple the carbon tax. While large, industrial corporations do not pay the carbon tax at all, small businesses will see their energy costs sky rocket, forcing them to charge more to consumers and pay less to workers.
Will the government cancel these new tax hikes so small businesses can survive?
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- May/30/22 2:38:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, from passport delays and airport backlogs to unnecessary travel mandates, the Liberals are continuing to create an environment of uncertainty for our small business owners, and businesses are raising the alarm on serious impacts. Business leaders in Toronto stated, “The current travel experience will have detrimental and lasting impacts on how...Canada [is] viewed on the international stage.” At the industry committee, a tourism spokesperson implored government officials to take action.
Will the government take immediate action, or are the Liberals okay with continuing to hurt small businesses and throwing away hundreds of thousands of tourism jobs?
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- May/16/22 3:01:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, at the industry committee, we heard from leaders of small and medium-sized businesses the impacts the government's policies are having on tourism operators' bottom lines. After two years of border closures, cycles of lockdowns, labour shortages and rising inflation, we heard that tourism small businesses are now concerned that things such as ArriveCAN, immigration inefficiencies and airport worker shortages will discourage tourists.
Why do the Liberals continue to double down on policies and ineffective processes that say to the world, “Canada is closed for business”?
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- Apr/29/22 10:46:57 a.m.
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- Re: Bill C-8
Madam Speaker, on this side of the House, as the official opposition, we have continually spoken out against some of the large corporations that have received benefits. For example, we can remember back when the government gave Loblaws millions of dollars to upgrade its fridges. Meanwhile, I was getting phone calls from constituents in my riding, such as a small flower shop owners and convenient store operators, asking if they could access this money to upgrade their fridges.
During this time, some of the largest grocery store chains were allowed to be open during the entire pandemic when other small businesses in the mall or down the street were forced to close. They were classified as essential services, yet they were still able to sell all of their goods, not just food and medication. We were standing against that and asking why the government was closing these small businesses while these largest of companies were allowed to stay open.
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- Apr/29/22 10:43:42 a.m.
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- Re: Bill C-8
Madam Speaker, this piece of legislation is like an omnibus bill; it has a number of pieces in it. We have been very supportive all along the way of legislation that has helped small businesses. However, we have also made recommendations to amend a lot of legislation over the last couple of years because the government would put out legislation that was not accommodating and helpful to small businesses. The legislation had a lot of parameters and rules, and small businesses could not apply. We have made many suggestions for that.
One example was that a person had to deal with a major bank and not a credit union in order to apply for programs. Another was that a person had to have a corporate bank account. We have continually made recommendations to the government to help small businesses and have supported small businesses all along the way.
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- Apr/28/22 3:03:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the environment commissioner's report on carbon pricing states that the government has not addressed the burden from carbon pricing faced by small businesses.
There is no plan to get carbon tax money back to small businesses. I met this morning with Ward from Kelowna—Lake Country, who owns an RV business, and much of our conversation was around various tax increases hitting the RV and camping industry.
Will the minister admit that the just transition plan is breaking the backs of small businesses and transitioning them to just hang on?
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