CFIB survey finds low business confidence

Despite claims by the NDP government that it’s creating jobs, a small business lobby group says its members largely don’t believe the province has a plan to help entrepreneurs.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said Tuesday a survey of nearly 1,000 Alberta members revealed 94 per cent were not confident the provincial government has a vision to support small business and entrepreneurship.

Six per cent said they were somewhat confident the Notley government has a vision, while just four respondents out of 985 said they were very confident.

“The provincial government makes frequent reference to the importance of the small business sector in almost-daily news releases, but all the talk is not resonating,” Amber Ruddy, Alberta director for the business group, said in a release.

The Alberta economy added 25,000 jobs in the past three months, which the government said was evidence “we are starting to turn a corner” from a prolonged recession. Still, there were 40,000 fewer Albertans working last month than in April 2015, just before the NDP formed government.

While Alberta’s jobless rate remained flat at 8.5 per cent in October, Calgary’s rate hit 10.2 per cent, a 23-year high.

In a report last week, the government said it is creating thousands of jobs with new tax credits, support for renewable energy, changes to energy royalties and grants for technology companies.

The Alberta government believes ramped up infrastructure spending will support 10,000 jobs over three years, while incentives for petrochemical facilities will add up to 3,000 construction jobs and another 1,000 permanent positions.

Ruddy dismissed these claims as government spin.

“Proclaiming the Alberta Jobs Plan is working is completely removed from the current economic reality,” Ruddy said in the release.