Madam Speaker, the member can hold tight. I will bring it back around, and the member will see how it all fits together.
We have a government that has wasted $400 million when small businesses are suffering and crime is out of control. The government is doing anything but leading in this country. This is affecting how small businesses can prosper and whether they are going to survive.
I am going to share a couple of quotes that are talking about security. The first says, “Some security measures, while helpful and necessary, may come at a steep price, deter customer foot traffic and, as a result, lead to lower revenues”. The second reads, “Many businesses are already operating on thin profit margins, so just one crime incident could be make-or-break-for a small business owner.”
Small businesses are watching as the Liberals are paying out of this $400 million slush fund to enrich themselves versus actually doing something for small businesses, such as setting policies or dealing with crime issues that would help businesses do a better job and be more prosperous. The CFIB report notes that businesses have adopted their operations in response to crime. About 50% have implemented safety measures that alter customer access, like locking doors or requiring appointments, and 67% resorted to spending money on more security. However, these measures have also made it more challenging for customers to access stores, potentially reducing foot traffic and revenue. I could talk more about that.
I talked about how difficult it is for small businesses. Once again, the Liberals have money for all their pet projects without setting proper policies in place that would ensure investment comes to Canada. We could attract investment and make sure that we are doing it. We can look at what is going on with our small businesses. I talked about how closings are up, openings are down and the number of businesses shutting down have grown.
This quote comes from an article that came out recently:
Canada saw the highest business closure rate since the first summer of the COVID-19 pandemic in June, with one in 20 businesses closing that month, according to Statistics Canada.
Canada's economy saw 46, 354 businesses close in June, making it the largest wave in exactly 4 years.
It's the highest closure rate since lockdown, a time when businesses were physically restricted from opening up to do business.
The data comes at a time when the unemployment rate also continues its upward trend and is seen highest among young adults.
In addition to the high rate of closures, the agency reported that the business opening rate also dropped by 0.4 percentage points, bringing it to 4.2%.
This drop marks the largest decline since August 2021.
“That statistics are worrisome,” [said the] director of economics with the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses....
[They also] noted that while business closures mentioned will be seasonal, therefore they’re not closing permanently, new businesses opening is a sign of a healthy, growing economy.
“You want to see that you have new businesses on the market trending upward and you want the closing rate dropping”....
One of the things we find challenging right now, as we look at what is happening, is that there is not much hope for small businesses and for Canadians in general. I will leave members with these statistics: “Canada has the housing prices of New York...the wages of Mississippi...the economy of Alabama...and taxes higher than all 50 US states.”
We have to deal with a new administration, and these policies are not working.