Industry committee  We would support what Mr. Smith has said. For most of our membership, the easier it is to access the assistance, the more likely it is they're going to take advantage of it. We have a saying at CFIB: we prefer that government doesn't pick winners but lets the businesses themsel

Industry committee  I would just add that while this is an issue, cost remains an issue for small businesses. Just today we looked at some of the monthly payments that small business owners have access to through our incumbent providers. The cost just to get Internet access can range up to $150 a m

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. CFIB is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization representing more than 109,000 small and medium-sized businesses across Canada that collectively employ more than 1.25 million Canadians and account for $75 billion, or nearly half of Canada's GDP. Our me

Finance committee  There is no question that the EI hiring tax credit was enormously popular with our membership and very well used. We are in a different situation this year given the freezing of EI rates. So we are examining what would be most useful to our members now and looking at that credit

Finance committee  We are looking at a variety of different options at this time. For us it's about what's going to impact the market the least. We have looked at rate-capping as one option. We're not sure that is the best option. Our research has demonstrated that Visa and MasterCard, powerful as

Finance committee  The key piece in that whole rate freeze is exactly that: it's the freeze. It's rate stability. Of course, deficits in the programs and the rather unpredictable nature of having rates go up and down, up during a recession and down when times are good—that was a very challenging

Finance committee  As I mentioned in my presentation, the CPP/QPP payroll tax is the granddaddy of all payroll taxes. It is by far the biggest. The CPP is 4.9% on wages. Our members have told us that they will not hire as they had planned to, or they will have to lay off staff, or they will be loo

Finance committee  The credit was a critical tax credit for the smallest of businesses especially. It allowed them to in some cases keep their staff on hand. Mr. Flaherty said in his most recent economic update that payroll taxes are job killers. Increases in payroll taxes, whether they are EI,

Finance committee  The rate has actually decreased but not at the same rate as the general rate has decreased.

Finance committee  In the sense of the value of the rates, the spread is not as high. So, yes, there were increased cuts to the corporate rate in general that weren't reflected in the small business rate.

Finance committee  Right, so we're addressing the erosion of that value for owners of small businesses.

Finance committee  We support attempts to foster innovation at all levels. SR and ED has its good points. It is a very difficult and expensive credit to gain. Many of our small business members have told us that they need to hire consultants to help them navigate the red tape and to apply. The bene

Finance committee  I'll start. We would have to go to our members on this issue specifically. We operate by survey research, so for this particular issue, we would need to get their views on it. We generally find that on tax issues, our members want competitiveness and fairness, and to be able to

Finance committee  We are in the midst of planning our lobbying and legislative affairs for 2014. So I'm not sure where it is on the list, but...

Finance committee  I believe we have that figure, but I don't have that information with me at this time. I can attempt to get that information for the committee.