Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau got an earful last week, in a conference call with Liberal MPs about the government’s proposed small business tax reforms, and it’s a message the government needs to heed.
To have a real debate about any tax reform, we must first acknowledge that it is the raison d’etre of every government, no matter their political stripe, to find ways to raise revenue for their spending plans; we get that.
But targeting small businesses and entrepreneurs seems counterproductive to the government’s stated policy of job growth and economic prosperity.
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The arguments against the proposed tax changes have been well stated, and a conversation with a small business operator will verify that the concerns are real.
Empty storefronts in abandoned downtown cores have been repopulated with start-up businesses in cities right across the country.
Young lawyers and doctors and innovators in a wide array of small businesses have set up shop at considerable personal cost, and hired local people and invested a lot of their blood, sweat and tears to make their businesses work and now the government wants to penalize them for their success.
Stifling the investment into small business can have serious economic consequences and possibly, serious political consequences for the government that imposes such policies.
Bill Kelly is the host of Bill Kelly Show on AM 900 CHML and a commentator for Global News.