PG Chamber CEO says federal budget not helpful for businesses

The federal budget was announced today (Thursday), with focuses on home affordability, dental care, and defence.

But Prince George Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Corrigall thinks it may be a little short sighted.

“As one economist said, this is not a forward looking budget. There is very few things in there that will help push our economy forward, that will help businesses through our recovery phase. And that’s where it becomes most challenging, because that’s how our economy is created.”

“The devil will be in the details when people start to dive into this, and it starts to be enacted. But right now it certainly does not look like there is enough in there to support the business sector through the recovery process,” added Corrigall.

While taking into consideration the pandemic, Corrigall noted that estimates for deficits have been growing year after year, and that, mixed with some other red flags, is creating some concerning long term implications.

“And now we are seeing record high inflation, which is only helping the government make more money. And so it’s incredibly problematic when you consider the long term implications of a lack of a strong recovery plan, a lack of business support, record inflation, and record high deficits.”

“This is the perfect storm of a government that is not keeping their eye on the ball,” added Corrigall.

He said he would have liked to have seen debt relief for businesses that used government support programs, cyber security on a federal level, and a review of the tax system to make sure everything was fair.

Corrigall noted that it wasn’t all bleak news though.

“If we want to talk about any of the good pieces, we can talk about the investments they’re talking about for critical minerals. We can talk about how this is going to, as I believe it said in the budget document, unclog supply chains, and I think that’s a vital piece, and that should technically help with some of our pricing.”