DOWN ON TAX CHANGE
Crowd of 250 marches on federal offices calling plan an attack on middle class
Farmer Jerry Hoehn was among local small business owners and employees in Saskatoon who rallied on Thursday against proposed federal tax changes which they say will hinder business growth here and across Canada.
About 250 people gathered in downtown Saskatoon over the Thursday lunch hour to protest federal corporate tax changes.
Before beginning a march from the Saskatoon Funeral Home to the federal tax services office, chanting “Trudeau, Morneau! Tax changes no go!” and carrying picket signs predicting the death of small businesses, many milled about, discussing their frustrations over legislation they expect to disrupt their businesses and incomes.
“They say they’re going after the rich, but it’s really affecting the middle class,” said Rodney Spork, owner of One to One Courier Limited.
“My biggest worry is that is this where it’s going to stop? Or are they going to continue on making even more cuts?”
Spork, like others, said he is most worried about not being able to keep money within his business that could be used for future expansion.
Under the proposed legislation, such money would be considered personal income and taxed at a higher rate, he said.
“A farmer doesn’t even have a chance (under this legislation),” remarked Jerry Hoehn, who said he has been farming in Saskatchewan for many years.
“If you buy a combine or something, they call it a tax shelter. I mean it’s not a tax shelter, it’s an important piece of equipment. Or if you’re trying to hold back a little money and make plans to buy more land, it’s like, ‘Oh geez, we don’t know if we want you to have that.’ It’s like they think we aren’t responsible enough to run our own businesses.”
Braden Turnquist, a partner at the Thomson Jasper accounting firm, said the changes will not only affect business owners but the whole country.
Because the affected businesses employ around 8.2 million people nationwide, even if only one per cent of employees are laid off to offset the higher tax rate, that would represent more than 80,000 lost jobs, he said.
Rebecca Lennon, who works for a local tech company, Complete Technologies, said she sees the changes as a direct threat to Canada’s middle class and especially to her own income.
“There’s no hope,” Lennon said. “It’s getting harder and harder to make ends meet as an average middle-class person ... If you’re going to start pinching the top guy, there will be no more money to trickle down.”