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begin to recover from COVID. We will also be eyes as a result of COVID restrictions. In about
working hard to highlight many key small business
issues in the expected Federal election campaign.
Longer term, we have many policies we want to
improve, including making Employment Insurance
less expensive for small business owners, reducing
credit card processing fees – particularly for
e-commerce transactions and addressing the
growing shortage of qualified labour.
Q: COVID aside, what is the biggest advocacy
challenge for the CFIB?
A: Our biggest challenge continues to be our
work in protecting the victories we’ve worked
hard to achieve. Back in 2017, the new Federal
government proposes sweeping changes to small
business policies that would have wiped out
many of the major benefits that balance out the
incredible risks entrepreneurs take on every day.
Many civil servants profoundly misunderstand
small businesses and think of them as little big
businesses. They convinced the previous Finance
Minister that small business owners were a bunch
of tax cheats and we had to take on a massive year
long battle to push back against the government’s
proposed changes. We were mostly successful, but
it reminded me that we need to be vigilant to protect
the ground we’ve gained over the past 50 years.
Q: Do you have an anecdote that illustrates the good
work the CFIB has done this year?
A: I can’t tell you how many veteran entrepreneurs
have called us this year in tears, reporting that
their businesses were crumbling before their
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10 cases, these calls actually turned into suicide
prevention calls, something our team was just not
adequately prepared for. When I think about some
of the messages that have been most powerful in
responding to panicked entrepreneurs, they’ve been
to tell them that they are not alone and that they’ve
done nothing wrong. Many otherwise successful
business owners feel like they have failed when
their business began to really struggle during
lockdowns. They felt somehow that they had let
their employees or their family members down. In
Half of the country’s GDP and
60 per cent of private sector
employment is created by small
businesses
reminding them that they are not alone and that
no one was adequately prepared for the pandemic,
it seemed to really help. The other message I
continue to give to business owners is to say thank
you. I thank them for their perseverance in the face
of this incredible once in a 100-year challenge. I
thank them for everything they’ve done to protect or
create jobs, to give back to their communities and to
make Canada a better place. I think all Canadians
should thank the local business owners who add so
much to the fabric of our country.
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