Small Business Group Praises Canadian Federal Budget

When it comes to how the Canadian government intends to spend its money in 2011, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business is officially pleased.  The CFIB used that term in a statement on the subject and gave the 2011 budget an overall grade of "B+."

Catherine Swift, the CFIB’s president, summed up, "We give credit to the government for working to balance its books while finding important, low-cost ways to help small firms grow the economy.  We are very pleased government accepted CFIB’s recommendation to introduce an Employment Insurance (EI) Hiring Credit and with efforts to reduce red-tape – particularly at the Canada Revenue Agency."

The one area of concern appears to be related to retirement income; the CFIB’s worried that the pensions of (former) public workers are too generous.

But again, all in all, things are looking good.  That EI Hiring Credit was the CFIB’s top budget priority, and no one enjoys dealing with bureaucratic formalities.  Plus, the CFIB believes transparency and accountability will improve thanks to the red tape-related developments.

So hopefully the Canadian economy will continue to recover, and small businesses in particular will gain an edge during the rest of this year.

Maybe it’s not too much to hope for a budget that will deserve an A- or solid A when 2012 rolls around, as well.