The Yukon Liberal Caucus is committed to ensuring the priorities of Yukoners and Yukon businesses are heard in Ottawa. We believe the concerns of Yukon’s small business community are pressing and important. Premier Silver has traveled to Ottawa to voice these concerns.
This week in the House MLA for Porter Creek Center, Paolo Gallina, introduced a motion urging the Government of Canada to:
- ensure that changes to the proposed small business tax do not have negative consequences on the growth of the economy.
This motion follows the Premier’s recent letter to federal Minister of Finance, Bill Morneau, urging the Government of Canada to extend the consultation period, and urging the federal Minister of Finance to meet with Yukon business owners to hear from them directly.
Read Premier Silver’s full letter to Minister Morneau here.
Premier Silver traveled to Ottawa this week, where he has voiced the pressing concerns of Yukon small businesses directly to the Finance Minister in a one-on-one conversation. Premier Silver also participated with other Premiers and the Prime Minister in a round table on the issue. This included a presentation by the federal Finance Minister followed by a period in which the Finance Minister answered questions from Premiers.
The federal Finance Minister has indicated that he had heard the concerns of small businesses and will address those concerns in the measures that are developed.
Returning from Ottawa, Premier Silver delivered this message in the House:
“In the days leading up to the trip, I heard from the business community in the Yukon. They asked me to deliver a message to Minister of Finance Bill Morneau. We sent a letter explaining the concerns that we heard and yesterday I spoke to Minister Morneau directly. I used my time with him to reiterate the concerns that have been voiced. I explained that the business community in Yukon wanted more time for consultation and more consideration for the overall impacts of this federal tax. I suggested that Minister Morneau should consider transition provisions as well to ensure that businesses have time to properly account for any changes that are made. I was very honoured to be able to deliver these messages from the small business community from Yukoners to Ottawa.
I was also enthusiastic to hear Minister Morneau offer reassurances, both to me and the entire group, that only the 1.7 percent of previously owned corporations that control 80 percent of the economy would be affected.” – Premier Sandy Silver
Read the full release on Premier Silver’s trip to Ottawa here.
