Mission/Ottawa – Brad Vis, MP for Mission–Matsqui–Fraser Canyon and Shadow Minister for Small Business Recovery & Growth, responded to the 2023 Federal Budget, tabled in Parliament by the Liberal government:
“With a $40.1 billion projected deficit for the upcoming fiscal year, this Liberal-NDP Budget falls significantly short of what Canadians need from this year’s Federal Budget” said MP Vis. “As the Shadow Minister for Small Business Recovery & Growth, I hoped to see a plan with targeted investments and policies to boost our productivity and improve our competitiveness at home and abroad. The reality is, the plan presented today, doubles down on uncontrolled spending,
increases taxes and drives our economy deeper into debt.”
Fuel and energy costs, as well as tax and regulatory costs, are already hurting small businesses. Budget 2023 failed to address these concerns and come April 1st, 2023; the carbon tax increase will make things even more expensive. Although the expected 6.3%, increase on Excise Tax for beer, wine, and spirits came in at 2%, this temporary cap of only one year still negatively impacts restaurants, breweries, and small businesses.
“This Budget also fails to deliver the real assistance small businesses need today such as addressing the labour and skills shortage” said MP Vis. This government pays lip service to enabling higher labour force participation and higher immigration without actually addressing the major bureaucratic backlogs and red tape creating a structural employment gap. This misalignment is preventing businesses from tapping into the skills workers have to offer while also preventing them from getting the training they want.
Canada’s Conservatives want policies that improve Canada’s lagging investment performance, the delivery of rural broadband and trade-enabling infrastructure. We want to see improved marine and inland ports, roads and bridges, and border enhancements. The elimination of interprovincial trade barriers, improved supply chain resiliency, and a robust innovation agenda is what Canadians and small businesses needed to see from this Budget, not higher taxes and inflationary deficits.
