By 2012, B.C. will have the lowest corporate and small business tax rates among the G7 nations. Small business taxes were cut by 44 per cent in 2008 alone. We’ve eliminated close to 37 per cent of unnecessary red tape that costs small businesses time and money, and reduced the small business tax. Small business growth in B.C. is among the highest in Canada. The new Small Business Roundtable is giving the small business community a chance to dialogue with government.
Challenges and Opportunities:
Small businesses are critical to B.C.’s economic health. Ninety-eight per cent of all businesses in British Columbia are small businesses, and they provide employment for over one million people and provide 57 per cent of British Columbia’s private sector jobs. Many of our small business have markets outside of British Columbia, meaning they too are impacted by the global economic slowdown.
Discussion:
Considering the small business tax rate is already being significantly cut, what other steps can government take to support small businesses to be successful and grow? How can government help ensure small businesses have access to different markets and that there are enough skilled workers to support their growth?
B.C.'s small business growth leads Canada
B.C. government eliminated 164,000 pieces of red tape
B.C. Liberals lowered small business taxes
Province cut corporate taxes by one-third
Record funding for K-12 education
Class size limits enshrined in law
B.C. parents' right to volunteer guaranteed in law
Province adds more front-line staff for children at risk
B.C. Liberal government provided more funding for community infrastructure
B.C. government grants $285 M for regional economic trusts
All traffic fine revenue returned to cities annually
Provincial income tax eliminated for a quarter million low-income people
Number of child care spaces receiving operating funding almost double
B.C. Liberal government cut income taxes to lowest in Canada
Agreements providing social and economic opportunities for First Nations
B.C. Liberal Government signed modern treaties with six First Nations
Aboriginal unemployment a third lower than in 2001
B.C. Liberal government increased funding for health care by 60 per cent
B.C.'s first new regional hospital in 30 years built in Abbotsford
New hospitals under construction in five communities
Twice as many doctors being trained in B.C. than in 1990s
North America's most progressive climate action plan, praised by climatologists and economists
Carbon tax funds tax cuts and impact equal to removing 800,000 vehicles
Over 12,000 new and replacement seniors' care beds and units
Wait time for residential care down to 90 days from one year
B.C. government providing more home support care hours than ever before
B.C. Liberal government created seven new universities
