Canadian Chamber President meets

with Prime Minister Harper

A message from the Hon. Perrin Beatty, President & CEO

of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce

Dear Colleagues,

Sincere thanks to each of you who shared your thoughts with me in preparation for my meeting with the Prime Minister.

The meeting was part of the consultations the government is currently undertaking as it prepares for the March budget. Other participants were Catherine Swift of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and John Manley of the Canadian Council of Chief Executive Officers. We had a good, wide-raging discussion that allowed me to raise a number of issues of concern to businesses across Canada.

To give the Prime Minister the most current information available, as you know, last week we invited each of you to let me know how the economy is performing in your regions and sectors and to share what you have been hearing from your members. What you told us was extremely useful in providing the Prime Minister with the most current information possible. I will also share your feedback when I take part in prebudget consultations with Finance Minister Flaherty on Wednesday.

What were some of the themes we heard most often from across Canada? First, we found a strong consensus that the recovery is starting to take hold, but that the turnaround is both fragile and uneven as you move from region to region or from sector to sector. We received a clear message that, while the government should continue with stimulus that is already in the pipeline, it should not add to what has already been promised for the coming year if it means increasing the debt. Second, there is growing concern that we need a concrete plan to eliminate the deficit over a reasonable period and to start paying down the debt incurred during the recession. Many of you recognize that this will be a painful process, but you feel that a plan is badly needed if we want to avoid passing on a crushing debt load to our children.

Some of the other themes that came up from our consultations were that we need to increase our efforts to build and diversify our international trade. Many members commented that the Prime Minister’s recent visits in Asia were an important recognition of how much our prosperity depends on international trade. They also expressed their concerns about the need to resolve the Buy American issue and to keep our border with the US open.

We also heard from many of you about the challenges smaller businesses are facing in attracting investment and obtaining credit. And you expressed your members’ concern about the possibility of increases to employment insurance premiums that would add to their cost of doing business and discourage new hiring. Increased payroll taxes would undermine the ability of businesses to compete and would discourage them from creating new jobs.

Among some of the other issues I discussed were the need for action on intellectual property, problems arising from interprovincial barriers to trade and mobility and the role of the private sector in pension reform.

I left with the Prime Minister a copy of the messages I received from the chamber network to ensure that he was aware of the diversity of issues and comments we received.

The government will continue to gather input over the coming weeks between now and when it presents its budget in March. As the voice of Main Street Canada, the Canadian Chamber Network throughout the country will play an important role in this process and do everything we can to promote a strong and prosperous economy.

Perrin

Hon. Perrin Beatty

President & CEO