Human Resources committee  Very good. I'll skip ahead to my recommendations. One recommendation is that you maintain the small business job credit or put in place a permanent lower rate for SMEs, perhaps on the first $500,000 in payroll, and that some consideration be given to a fifty-fifty split in premi

Human Resources committee  We've certainly seen an uptick in the concern over debt and deficit, but this is across all governments, not just in the federal government. That is a growing issue of concern to our members, as shown in our surveys. With respect to reducing the number of hours for eligibility,

Human Resources committee  I don't know the reasons for the difference, but my observation, in looking at these numbers, is that they're too high in all regions that we surveyed: Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada. The system isn't there for people to choose if they would rather sit on employment insura

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much. I will refer to the slides that I believe you have in front of you, so I'll keep the numbers going. Just for those who don't know, CFIB is a small business advocacy organization. We have 109,000 members across Canada, all of them are independently owned and

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  We're trying to figure out if this is a solution in search of a problem, and we suspect that it is. Again, if the Prime Minister is talking about abuse, that businesses are not legitimate and they're setting this up, and it's basically an employment income that they're hiding in

Finance committee  Yes. From a fairness perspective we don't feel there's any difference if somebody is a good mechanic and is earning several hundred thousand dollars, or if they are a good lawyer, doctor, or dentist and earning several hundred thousand dollars. It's the level of income you should

Finance committee  The clip that aired on The National was an interview with Peter Mansbridge when the Prime Minister commented that a large percentage of small businesses were simply ways for wealthy Canadians to save on their taxes. We immediately sought clarification because if the Prime Ministe

Finance committee  Indeed we have about 5,000 doctors, lawyers, and dentists as members.

Finance committee  On that front from our perspective, when we did a public opinion poll of Canadians asking them if they did have more money to save for their retirement where would they like to place it—I'm looking for the data. I don't have it in front of me. The top choice was that if Canadians

Finance committee  Sure. One thing, to just chime in on that front, is that some at the political level feel that it will help equalize small firms against larger firms because everybody will have to start paying into a pension that they might not otherwise have. I will point you to the data that

Finance committee  I do. You're quite right. Credit card processing fees have come down for the first time ever. They did drop. We were pleased to see that. Actions were taken by the previous government to help make that happen. Has it gone far enough? No, absolutely not. The code of conduct is wo

Finance committee  You are. I have to tell you that I'm really worried about what I'm seeing right now and the economic signs that we're looking at. I know that you, as parliamentarians across all parties, are as well. I am quite concerned. Even small actions with good intentions could be that str

Finance committee  It's a very interesting question. There is a lot that can be done, and one of the things we liked best about your party's platform was the EI holiday that was proposed for youth hiring. That is a terrific incentive. It's something that has been done in the past. Previous Libera

Finance committee  Very good. I've also made some recommendations on red tape, on Canada Revenue Agency. We do want to give a special plug here for the Liberal Party's previous bill to allow succession planning, to make that easier for small firms. Emmanuel Dubourg put forward a private member's b