QUESTION PERIOD — Canada Revenue Agency
Canada Pension Plan
December 14, 2020
Honourable senators, my question is also for the government leader.
Across Canada, small businesses are suffering due to COVID-related restrictions on their operations, including those in my province of British Columbia. A Canadian Federation of Independent Business survey found, as of November 30, only 40% of B.C.’s small businesses had normal staffing levels and just 31% of them had normal revenue.
On January 1, the federal government will raise Canada Pension Plan payroll deductions on businesses struggling to survive: yet another demand on the struggling businesses as we’ve heard time and time again.
When the CPP premium increases were first announced in 2016, former Minister Morneau promised they would be “very modest” and “relatively painless.” Leader, this is sort of a “yes” or “no” question. It’s clear to me that this is a terrible time to raise taxes on small businesses, but the government doesn’t seem to agree. Will your government delay the CPP payroll tax hike set to take place in just over two weeks?
I must be genetically incapable of answering simply. It must be my university background. I don’t know the answer to your question and would not presume to give an answer.
The government is doing everything it can to support Canadians, and it is doing it in so many different ways that it’s important to look at it globally. I will make inquiries as to what their intentions are, certainly, and I may have a yes or no answer for you when I get an answer from the government.
Thank you, leader. Currently, only about 40% of Canada’s small businesses are fully staffed. By increasing the payroll tax on January 1, the government will make it harder for them to hire workers in the new year.
Your government often says it makes evidence-based decisions. Has your government studied how next month’s CPP premium hike will hurt the ability of local employers to hire staff, and have you studied how the payroll tax hike will harm Canada’s ability to recover economically from COVID-19? If the answer is yes, such studies have been undertaken, would you table that analysis here in the Senate?
Thank you for your question. I don’t know the answer to your specific question, but I can assure this chamber that the government looks at the impact of all of its measures on the economy and on those who make up our economy, whether it is in the programs of support that they provided for small businesses, whether its rent relief and wage subsidies or whether it’s with regard to other measures such as the ones that you mentioned. Each and every measure is analyzed to see what impact it will have not only on the revenue side but on the impact on the economy.
I don’t know the specific answer to your question. I will be happy to inquire.
