Sault chamber keeping close eye on upcoming provincial budget

The provincial government is poised to unveil its budget Thursday.

Ensuring the needs of the north are met in the fiscal plan is at the top of the wish list for the Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce.

Strengthening ties with and supporting the biggest employers in the Sault is the main focus of the local chamber.

Officials said much of the local economy is tied to Tenaris and Algoma Steel.

“Two large employers that are exposed to the impacts of importation from non-market economies,” said Rory Ring, CEO of the chamber.

“If we can have the province support us in those particular endeavours, that (would be) beneficial to making Ontario and northern Ontario a competitive place to do business.”

More than 90 per cent of Sault chamber members are small businesses. Ring said they have different needs from the provincial.

Most important is predictability, with a follow-through at Queen’s Park.

“I need to know where I’m going in the next three to five years,” Ring said.

“I need to know what policy is going to look like, what legislation is going to look like, and I need to be able to plan ahead. Because we’re deploying capital -- and that’s long-term capital, whether it’s from own cash resources in the business or it’s from borrowed capital.”

A government that has promised to cut red tape needs to allow the municipal government to do so, added the chamber head.

“You need to lend support to the municipality. It really is the municipality that deals with a lot of the frontline red tape issues, and that’s created through the Municipal Act.”

Ring said changes to the Act would allow the government to establish creative policies that could lessen the tax burden on the commercial and industrial sectors, without passing those taxes to residential taxpayers.