Finance committee  Hello there. Thank you very much for the opportunity to present today. My name is Ben Brunnen. I'm director of policy and government affairs, and I'm chief economist with the Calgary chamber. The Calgary chamber represents about 2,200 businesses within the Calgary region, and I'm speaking today on their behalf as we assist you in creating the best environment for Canadians: to live, work, invest, and raise their families.

Finance committee  I have a couple of points. That's a really good question. Labour shortages are a challenge in Alberta, particularly northern Alberta. There are some regional issues there. We certainly encourage a review of employment disincentives, particularly reforming existing programs such as EI programs, to encourage workers from areas of high unemployment to mobilize to areas of low unemployment.

Finance committee  The chamber was extremely supportive of that direction. It's a very positive step. Opening up trade markets is a key strategic move, particularly in times when we're trying to grow our economy. Particularly from a diversity perspective, I think that signing trade agreements and opening up those opportunities will be a key component towards long-term success.

Finance committee  Certainly red tape is an issue we're hearing and seeing from our membership. Being in Calgary, we are Canada's energy hub, and a lot of the projects do have provincial and national requirements, regulatory requirements, and approval processes. One of the key opportunities right now to strengthen the regulatory framework is through stronger coordination approval processes--for example, the environmental approvals as well as project approvals moving forward for these energy projects.

Finance committee  Conceptually they seem sound. I would reserve comment to learn a little more about what they're suggesting.

Finance committee  Could you clarify the last point on access?

Finance committee  Certainly these suggestions are in alignment with the position of the Chamber of Commerce. We definitely heard from our colleagues and our membership about the challenges regarding consistency in the application of the procedures, rules, etc.

Finance committee  Sure. We're in the process of trying to get that trademarked as a Calgary national term eventually. The concept really is that we've been trying to find ways to set good, simple rules for spending parameters around budget management. Oftentimes we hear and see population and inflation as sort of that mantra, but that doesn't necessarily enable governments to accommodate economic growth and the pressures that result.

Finance committee  Absolutely. Starting with the tax rate, if we take a look at the recent federal budget documents we see the decline in the corporate income tax rate. At the same time we see a corresponding increase in aggregate corporate income tax revenue. That suggests a number of things, but one very clear thing is that when we decrease the tax levels, we increase the size of the pie.

Finance committee  Sure. This approach creates regional distortions by driving R and D investment into provinces that don't match the partnership funding. The chamber recommends that government work with the provinces to restructure the research partnership program to eliminate these distortions.

Finance committee  Great. Thank you very much. You know, these jerseys are on every wall in Calgary. I'm not sure if you have the same policy at the city, but we can't remove it. It's part of our heritage, if you will. Thanks very much for the opportunity to present to the committee today. The Calgary Chamber of Commerce represents over 3,200 members in the Calgary business community.