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Conservative leader Stephen Harper Wednesday put forth a package that he says will lower small business taxes and create apprenticeship positions.
"Canada needs small business," said Mr. Harper, speaking in Saint John. "But more importantly, small business needs a government in Ottawa that's on the side of people who work for themselves."
The Conservative strategy, call the Opportunity Plan for Small Business, calls for the raising of the threshold for the small business tax rate from $300,000 to $400,000 and reducing the small business tax rate from 12 per cent to 11 per cent over five years.
The raising of the threshold of the small business tax rate was the No. 1 recommendation of a recent survey conducted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
The plan says a Conservative government would reduce business taxes to create employment and encourage economic growth.
Mr. Harper made his announcement after speaking to workers at a Saint John factory that produces windows and doors and employs about 20.
Owner Mark Hughes, a Conservative supporter, called it good news for his business and for the economy.
"Over the last 10 or 15 years, the value of that $300,000 has steadily decreased," said Mr. Hughes. "So obviously it's time to move that limit up, because the dollar isn't worth what it was 20 years ago."
In an effort to meet shortages in the skilled trades, the Tories are also promising tax credits of up to $2,000 for employers who take on new apprentices.
To create apprenticeship positions, the Conservatives say they would establish an Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit. This credit will be an incentive for employers to hire new apprentices in designated fields. It will reduce their tax by 10 per cent of the wages paid to apprentices for two years, to a maximum of $2,000 per apprentice per year.
"The Liberals have spent 12 years making powerful insiders better off," Mr. Harper said. "A Conservative government will make independent businesses, apprentices and small business employees better off."
These are just the kinds of thing that businesspeople have been calling for, said Garth Whyte of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business that represents about 100,000 small and mid-sized firms across the country.
"They've hit a lot of issues that we've been calling for," said Mr. Whyte.
The Tory price tag of about $480-million annually for the tax measures isn't terribly large, but that will also impress small business, Mr. Whyte said.
"We don't want to break the bank, we want certainty over the long term on where taxes are going."
But whether such support will actually translate into more votes for Mr. Harper's Tories — particularly at the expense of the Liberals — isn't clear.
CFIB members are also applauding recent Liberal promises of about $30-billion in personal and business tax cuts.
That five-year plan was outlined by Finance Minister Ralph Goodale in his November mini-budget that included immediate income-tax cuts for low-income Canadians.
"I think while the Liberals made a good beginning, it sounds like the Tory plan is going one step further — which our members would support," said Mr. Whyte.
