Business group urges big tax reforms
A business group representing 150 Canadian corporations has been lobbying federal officials for a broad-based review of the tax code, part of a wider effort to renew awareness about Canada’s waning competitiveness ahead of the looming federal election. Goldy Hyder, head of the Business Council of Canada, has met with a number of cabinet ministers, opposition leaders, labour groups and others to discuss the potential for a deep and structural reform of the Canadian tax code, which he argues could help unleash the country’s economic potential.
The lobbying blitz comes amid concerns in the private sector that Ottawa has ignored calls for more business-friendly policies, particularly in its 2019 budget. Business competitiveness became a mainstream political topic in 2017, when Finance Minister Bill Morneau introduced controversial tax reforms that helped stoke fears in the private sector about an increasingly burdensome tax system in Canada. Those worries, along with sweeping tax changes introduced by U.S. President Donald Trump and trade uncertainties, prompted Morneau to introduce a number of piecemeal tax incentives aimed at giving the business community a boost.
But executives and some politicians say Ottawa must go much further to properly address Canada’s declining business competitiveness, which they say threatens the future of the Canadian economy.
Hyder met with reporters on Thursday to discuss his concerns over the broader business environment, and the council plans to release a report on the subject next week.
He has met in recent months with Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, chief of staff to the economic development minister Gianluca Cairo, several high-level officials at Finance Canada and Simon Beauchemin of the Prime Minister’s Office, according to the lobbyist registry. The group has also met with a number of other politicians, labour groups and Indigenous representatives. Hyder, among others, has proposed that Canada undergo a deep, structural review of the federal tax code in order to attract more capital and workers to the country.