Vaughan-Woodbridge candidates speak: the question of small business

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 17, 2015

The Vaughan Citizen has posed a set of questions covering a wide range of matters to candidates running in the riding of Vaughan-Woodbridge for the Oct. 19 federal election to help local voters better understand their positions.

Responses received from candidates by The Citizen’s publication deadline will be published in the newspaper, and online at yrmg.com over, the next several weeks.

Q. Approximately 80 per cent of Vaughan’s employers are small businesses. What specific measures would your party enact to ensure small businesses not only survive, but thrive? How much would those measures cost?

Conservative Julian Fantino

You only have to take a short drive through Vaughan to realize small businesses are the engine of our economy and a major job creator.

While Justin Trudeau claimed that “a large percentage” of small business were fronts to avoid taxes, Conservatives know how hard small business owners work.

That’s why our Conservative government moved to lower the small business tax rate to 11 per cent to 9 per cent - translating into a savings of about $10,000 for a typical small business. This is the largest small business tax cut in more than 25 years.

We will also cut payroll taxes through a 20 per cent reduction in Employment Insurance premiums, allowing small businesses to expand here and create more jobs.

These two measures, both fully accounted for in the federal budget, are in addition to other initiatives we have put in place to help small businesses in Vaughan-Woodbridge.

Libertarian Anthony Gualtieri

We are committed to lowering the corporate tax rate and capping all personal income tax to a flat rate of 15 per cent. This would allow owners of small businesses to use those extra funds to grow and sustain their business.

Businesses are run by people, if people have more money in their pockets they can focus on better initiatives to grow their business instead of giving their money to the government.

Liberal Francesco Sorbara

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the backbone of the Canadian economy, often face serious barriers to success, including red tape, difficulty finding skilled labour and poor access to capital.

A Liberal government will help SMEs grow, secure funding, innovate and create an environment that reduces barriers to their success.

We believe SMEs are vital to strengthen Canada’s economy and stimulate job growth. Our prosperity is embodied in entrepreneurs who take chances.

We’ll reduce Employment Insurance premiums from $2.63 to $2.31 and follow through on budget 2015’s reduction of the small business tax rate to 9 per cent.

Additionally, we’ll reinstate the Labour Sponsored Venture Capital Corporation tax credit, allowing labour funds to make significant investments in small- and medium-sized enterprises, which need a steady source of capital to succeed.

We’ll also invest $500 million in the federal-provincial Labour Market Agreements to help ensure business owners have access to a well-trained labour force.

NDP candidate Adriana Zichy and Green Party candidate Elise Boulanger did not respond by publication deadline.