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.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.