Small businesses are concerned about high rent and high taxes.
That was the message Cloverdale business owners conveyed to Conservative MP Brad Vis March 14.
Vis, Shadow Minister for Small Business Recovery and Growth, was in town for a roundtable hosted by the Cloverdale District Chamber of Commerce.
“It was a dialogue about issues impacting small businesses,” said Scott Wheatley, the executive director of the Cloverdale Chamber. “It wasn’t so much about providing solutions as it was about listening to what our problems are, a fact-finding meeting.”
He said the conversation went well as local business owners shared with the shadow minister what was at the top of their concerns list.
“People asked a lot of questions,” said Wheatley. “Most centred around the high cost to do business.”
Vis, MP for the constituency of Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, asked attendees what the biggest challenges each of them faced as they conducted their day-to-day work.
“A lot of concerns were the standard ones: rents are too high, transit’s not good enough, development permits take too long to be issued, property taxes are too high—property taxes can be a killer for small businesses.”
Wheatley noted many of the matters didn’t fall into the federal sphere as most were local issues. But he added it’s all part of the same problem, the same “problem touchpoints” that people across the country are facing in one way or another.
“He can take some of that back to Ottawa and, if they did form a government, then they could help work on things like transit and infrastructure and help in those areas.”
Wheatley added many were concerned with the carbon tax and how it can increase the cost to do business on every level.
“Housing came up too,” Wheatley said. “That’s always a big one. Getting workers nearer to their jobs is also important.”
About a dozen business owners attended the hour-long chinwag, which was held at the Chamber’s office on 176th Street in downtown Cloverdale.
For more info on the Chamber or their events, visit cloverdalechamber.ca.