2020-09-18 Advocacy Update - Fall 2020

Canada Business Registries 

We wrote to Minister Responsible for Service New Brunswick, Sherry Wilson to request that New Brunswick join the federal-provincial open digital business registration service, “Canada’s Business Registries” that was officially launched on 29 June 2020. The Multi-Jurisdictional Registry Access Service (MRAS) reduces red tape and internal trade barriers for companies by connecting business registries across the country. It enables businesses in Canada to register seamlessly in select provinces and territories without having to provide the same information to each jurisdiction. The official registries of Alberta, British Columbia, Corporations Canada, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan are already part of the initiative. The full letter can be found on our website .
 

Letter to Premier Higgs, Re: Maritime Iron 

Earlier this summer we joined the Atlantic Chamber of Commerce and chambers from across New Brunswick in writing Premier Higgs about the Maritime Iron’s proposed Belledune plant. The letter asks the premier to look at the Maritime Iron proposal (or others) not simply from an NB Power-centric perspective, but rather through a whole of Government of New Brunswick lens. Read the full letter on our website. 
 

Restaurant Support Letter to Federal, Provincial, and Municipal Governments 

We joined the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and chambers from across Canada in writing all three levels of government to advocate support for the food service sector. The letter calls for such supports as eliminating the automatic annual federal excise tax increase on beer, wine, and spirits; expanding liquor licensing, or make permanent COVID-related licensing changes, to allow more restaurants to offer alcohol sales (including for take-out); and easing regulatory burdens, which assist the industry without impacting government budgets. The full letter can be found on our website. 
 

Turning Point 

We partnered with several over business organizations to host the Turning Point webinar series in May and June. The next phase for the provincial stakeholder group will be the analyze the conversations, comments and questions to ultimately set priorities and goals for an economic recovery plan. 
 

Canadian Chamber of Commerce Federal Pre-Budget Submission 

As the federal government prepares its 2021 budget and looks for new ideas on how to drive the economy forward, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce has made a submission to the Standing Committee on Finance for its 2021 budget consultations. The national chamber’s Roadmap to Recovery forms the foundation of the submission, which makes 33 specific recommendations to promote private sector economic growth and competitiveness. Read the submission here. 
 

Canadian Chamber of Commerce Launches Independent Tax Review 

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the chamber network has been calling for a Royal Commission to comprehensively review Canada’s tax system without any movement from the federal government. This summer they announced that they were taking matters into their own hands by launching a private-sector-led independent review process. The first step in the Canadian Chamber’s involves broad and inclusive public consultations on how to harness Canada’s tax system to foster growth. Leading the consultation process will be eight respected business and academic leaders, dubbed special commissioners, who engaged Canadian businesses and economic experts across Canada during the months of August and September 2020.