Legislative Proposal, Bill or Resolution

• CFIB agrees that secret ballot voting should be mandatory prior to union certification.
• Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) Inspection Modernization Plan discussion and impact on Small and medium enterprises (SME)
• Goods and Services Tax/ Harmonized Sales Tax Administration with regards to Transitional Rules, Out of Province Sales Rules, Point-of-Sale Rebate , and fillings.
• Lobbying to reduce Red Tape and improve government customer service in relation to the Red Tape Reduction Commission recommendations
• Monitoring the implementation of the Bill C-27 (Canadian Anti-Spam legislation and regulations) for its impacts on small businesses.
• Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and its effects on SMEs

Legislative Proposal, Bill or Resolution, Policies or Program

• Retirement Income Policies, and proposed Canada Pension Plan increases. CFIB is against mandatory increases in Canada Pension Plan, and has provided alternative approaches.

Policies or Program

• CFIB advocates for simplification to the federal procurement process on behalf of SMEs
• Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) provides budget 2016 suggestions focusing on: Taxes, reduce the small business tax rate and re-introduce the Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance (CCA) rate for technology purchases. Red tape, implement Red Tape committee recommendations and reduce interprovincial barriers to trade. Shortage of labour, adapt programs to give businesses faster access to the workers they need when they need them. Employment Insurance, renew the EI Hiring Credit and freeze premiums. Pensions, implement Pooled Registered Pension Plan's (PRPP) consistently across provinces, and implement changes to public servant pension plans. No increased to the Canada Pension Plan premiums. Improve access and simplify Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption (LCGE) process. Ensure a balanced budget. Improve the Credit Card Code of Conduct to better protect Small Businesses.
• Employment Insurance (EI) -expressing concern about rate increases starting in 2011, pushing for EI credit for employers.
• Expanding the Credit Card Code of Conduct to include mobile and electronic payment provisions. Ongoing monitoring of the effectiveness of the code.
• Presenting the views of small business owners on infrastructure spending through member survey results, mandate votes and other CFIB research. Offering funding solutions and alternatives to government proposals on transit and infrastructure expansion.
• Promoting our members’ interests and monitoring impacts of the recently announced Canada Post Five-Point Action Plan. CFIB is against massive letter mail price hikes.
• Promoting results of CFIB Agriculture survey and encouraging review of CFIA operations and the AgriStability/Growing Forward program to ensure it is meeting the needs of SMEs.

Policies or Program, Regulation

• Advocating on behalf of small and medium sized businesses to ensure fair access to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. We are asking for a limit on any new application fees and create more pathways to permanent residency for temporary foreign workers at all skills levels
• CFIB continues to monitor the effects of the Consumer Product Safety Act on SMEs. And we continue to monitor customer service interacts between our members and Health Canada.
• CFIB supports the EI rate freeze, promotes a transition to the break-even rate as soon as possible, supports a separate EI operating account, is against the accumulation of surpluses in the account and encourages converting the EI hiring credit to an EI training credit.
• CFIB supports the principle behind the Canada Jobs Grant but encourages flexibility in its implementation and consideration of SME needs, for example by supporting informal work place training.
• Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) advocates for ease of use and reduction of red tape for small business using the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, and Immigration Policy

Regulation

• Advocating on behalf of small and medium sized businesses to facilitate trade between Canada and the United States and improving services for SMEs.
• Monitoring the impacts of CRTC regulations on small business owners, and promoting the results of our Telecom survey to show how SMEs use and rate their services.
• Presenting the views of small business owners based on our survey data to the Canada Revenue Agency to share ways of improving customer service interactions with SMEs and suggest ways to ease the tax burden on small business owners as well as increase accountability within the agency.