Ontario, tax cuts may be pivotal
ECONOMY Province’s slow growth a worry ‘Tax cut auction’ possible: Analyst
Prime Minister Paul Martin enters this election campaign with a respectable track record on the economy as a whole, but a struggling Ontario could provide some fodder for opposition candidates.
Yes, the national unemployment rate is at a 30- year low but Ontario’s growth has trailed the Canadian average for the past three years. The province, which holds a third of Canada’s seat total, deserves some attention. A strong Canadian dollar is making life difficult for Ontario’s manufacturers, most of which depend on exports for their livelihoods. High energy prices are also hurting Canadians, both firms and consumers, though Alberta’s deeply Conservative oil patch is benefiting immensely. Even campaigning politicians won’t claim they can control the dollar or energy prices.
clogged border crossings, guidance on bank mergers, income tax cuts — and hope that whoever emerges victorious is friendly to their business.
Stanford says the ruling Liberals helped land more than $5 billion of auto investment in the last year, typically contributing between 5 and 10 per cent of the capital costs in each project. Meanwhile, he added, the Conservatives are perceived to be against “ corporate welfare.” He looks to two ridings, Oshawa and Cambridge, which both narrowly went to Conservative MPs last year, for a possible shakeup. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, or CFIB, has drawn up a list of questions that its 105,000 members can fire at candidates. The big needs, said executive vice- president Garth Whyte, are areduction on income taxes and the regulation paper burden slowing entrepreneurs.
“ It’s a huge cost to the economy,” Whyte said of the paperwork facing small businesses. “ They spend a lot of time working ( to meet) requirements of various levels of governments.” The Number 1 issue for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers is the skilled labour shortage.
“ We are really short of tradespeople, geo-technical people, engineers, project managers across the industry,” said association president Pierre Alvarez. “ Skill shortage is a huge piece of business for us and it’s something that we’d like to see forming an important part of the prosperity agenda.” And a tax break would be nice, added Alvarez, who estimates his industry pays governments about $20 billion per year in corporate taxes, royalties and other costs. Bank mergers seem a perennial issue, but in some corners, there is little expectation that this election will bring any clearer focus. “The merger proposal, that was seven years ago,” said one bank spokesperson.
Indeed, the call for federal guidance on bank mergers is now an old refrain. Proponents, including the country’s top banker, David Dodge, continue to bang the drum of global competitiveness and efficiencies while polls show many Canadians worry about a drop in customer service.