Government Operations committee  I don't think we've ever experienced anything quite like this.

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. We appreciate the opportunity to be here today. Justin Taylor and I represent the $60 billion, one million employee food service industry. Today we're here to talk about the $5.8 billion Toronto restaurant industry and the i

Industry committee  We appreciate it. Keep it up.

Industry committee  What happens is that there is a trading-down effect, so those consumers who were frequenting high-end restaurants may go more to the mid-range restaurants. Some who were going to the mid-range restaurants will go to some of the more quick-service restaurants. They initially modif

Industry committee  Then it takes a while for them to ramp up after the economic downturn is over. There's a lag time. When the economy starts to improve, it takes a while before the restaurant industry comes back.

Industry committee  Absolutely.

Industry committee  The food service industry is very similar to what Tony articulated for the accommodation industry. There continue to be pockets across the country where there are still real issues in terms of being able to find staff, and I'm talking about all skill levels—but during the severes

Industry committee  There will be 27.

Industry committee  We're already concerned. The economic and fiscal projections in September seem to indicate that premiums on payrolls are going to go up 21¢ per $100 every year from 2011 to 2015. The impact of that will be devastating for a labour-intensive industry like food service. It's extrem

Industry committee  In the three westernmost provinces—Saskatchewan, Alberta, and B.C.—there is no tax on restaurant food. There's food tax fairness. In Atlantic Canada, when the HST was brought in, there was already tax on restaurant meals, so there wasn't the sticker shock that consumers will expe

Industry committee  Obviously this is a critical issue for our industry. When the GST was imposed back in 1991, our sales declined by 10.6%. It was a recessionary period at that time. In contrast, the GDP declined by 2%. We were identified in an Ernst & Young study as being in a unique position,

Industry committee  I don't have any comments.

Industry committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. Good afternoon. Canada's $60 billion food service industry accounts for 4% of the national economy and over one million jobs. Our members include chain and independent operators of quick- and full-service restaurants, bars

Finance committee  That would be the best-case scenario for our sector.

Finance committee  Right now Visa and MasterCard are in the process of rolling out new debit products, and they're doing so in a way that is very concerning to our members. There are things like a percentage fee on debit cards. They're doing some priority routing to their debit card over Interac, w