Finance committee  The Chicken Farmers of Canada, Grain Growers of Canada, Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Canadian Federation of Independent Business and the Chamber of Commerce have spoken to me, as have the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, the Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick and the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan.

International Trade committee  I would also like to come back to what Ms. Pohlmann from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said. The statistics are really interesting. They remind us that our trade balance with the European Union is negative, while giving us a sense of what we need in terms of investors, in relation to taxes, duties, and the complexity of the rules and regulations on non-tariff barriers.

International Trade committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Sawyer. You have my apologies for having to interrupt you. From the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Corinne Pohlmann is next.

International Trade committee  Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to share the CFIB's perspective on Bill C-18. You should have a slide presentation that was sent to you by the clerk. I'm hoping to walk you through it, so I hope you'll have that in front of you as I present my speaking notes over the next few minutes.

International Trade committee  From the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, we have Fawn Jackson, director, international and government relations; and Doug Sawyer, co-chair, international trade committee. From the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, we have Corinne Pohlmann, senior vice-president, national affairs and partnerships; and from Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, we have Matthew Poirier, director, trade policy.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Chair and members of the committee. It's great to be with you again. I want to share with you some new data from CFIB—we just put some out this morning. Of course we also have a few recommendations for you. A deck was sent around in English and French. You should have that, members of the committee.

Finance committee  You've been here lots of times. You know the process. This is Dan Kelly, president and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Dan, the floor is yours.

Committees of the House  I could talk way longer than 20 minutes about the tourism industry and how critical it is that we support it, but we also see the big banks not playing a fair game. We heard from Dan Kelly and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business just over the weekend talking about merchant fees. The interchange fees are still way too high, especially for online business. We have all these online businesses that have pivoted to being online and they are paying these absolutely outrageous rates.

Committees of the House  As the previous speaker and my colleague mentioned, people want to get back to work. These industries and small businesses are looking for certainty. The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses is indicating that 200,000 small businesses may fail because of COVID. That would be devastating news for the Canadian economy and for Canadian tourism in general.

Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020  We need to create the conditions for them to succeed, something that the fall economic statement does not do. In late January, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business released its 2021 edition of Canada's “Red Tape Report Card”. It showed that for a business with fewer than five employees, including the owner, the cost of regulations was over $7,000 per employee.

International Trade committee  These are organizations such as the Business Council of Canada, the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, and the Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters. When it comes to the critical nature of Bill C-18, I would like to quote the shared statement from these businesses directly: ...we ask all parties to support the ratification of the Trade Continuity Agreement by quickly passing Bill C-18.

The Economy  It is crucial. We are going to hit a wall if we do not do something. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has said that one in six businesses is at risk of closing down this year if nothing changes. This would put more than 2.4 million jobs at risk. How does the government plan to protect businesses and jobs?

Employment  Mr. Speaker, today, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business published a report showing that one in six small businesses are considering closing permanently, putting 20% of private-sector jobs in jeopardy. We have already lost more than 800,000 jobs and the unemployment rate is one-third higher than the G7 average.

Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020  If they want to be part of the recovery, they will need cash flow, because they are stretched very thin right now. We are all familiar with the study from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business that shows that many businesses are on the brink of bankruptcy. We need to get away from loan obligations and instead focus on subsidies. As for the municipalities, all I can say is that this is a provincial jurisdiction.

Income Tax Act  As an entrepreneur and representative of a region that consistently ranks as one of the most entrepreneurial areas in the country, I was very sad to see the latest survey that the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, or CFIB, released last week, warning that 181,000 small business owners in Canada were considering closing their businesses. That means one in five businesses could close down, despite all the programs and billions of dollars spent by different levels of government and the support services we have provided in our respective ridings.