Canadian Chamber welcomes Fall Economic Statement help for beleaguered sectors, calls for early budget to set out the remainder of an economic growth strategy

The economic statement outlined continued and new spending to help Canadians and businesses weather the economic impacts of the pandemic. (File Photo:
Mike Petrucci/Unsplash)

(OTTAWA) The Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s President and CEO, Perrin Beatty, issued the following statement today in response to the Government’s Fall Economic Statement.

“The Fall Economic Statement was an opportunity to provide a detailed plan to get us from today’s hardship to economic recovery and growth. The statement provided needed supports for businesses and Canadians to build a foundation for growth, though many questions remain about the government’s economic recovery plan. For example, the economic statement presents a plan to create a plan for childcare and longer-term recovery.

The economic statement outlined continued and new spending to help Canadians and businesses weather the economic impacts of the pandemic. Businesses pressed for a targeted approach to support programs, focusing resources on sectors most at risk of permanent closures during a second wave. While further measures will be required to assist the travel, tourism, food services, hotel, cultural, and energy sectors, today’s focused support for the hardest hit industries will help many of businesses survive the second wave and be there to propel our economic recovery.

The rate at which women are being forced to leave the workforce because of childcare gaps continues to undermine Canada’s economic recovery and requires emergency funding. While today’s announcement is a first step towards addressing the broader issue of childcare, the Canadian Chamber has pressed for immediate assistance to flow directly to parents and childcare providers. The wage subsidy program or tax policies are two levers the government already has at its disposal to provide immediate relief.

While the emergency supports announced today will help many Canadians and businesses through a challenging winter, the government’s plans to manage the pandemic and restore economic growth remain unclear. We hope to see these detailed plans in a budget early next year.

To carry us from now until a significant majority of Canadians have been immunized, we need to move to actively managing the disease instead of just responding to it. Unfortunately, Canadians are still waiting for a plan that clearly sets out how we can curb the spread of the disease, protect the most vulnerable and speed up Canadians’ ability to return to more normal lives.

Similarly, we also require an economic strategy with a clear fiscal anchor to help us move from subsidies to a private sector-led recovery where both individuals and businesses can be self-sufficient again. All Canadians understand the need for one-time, emergency spending to support people and businesses through the crisis, but now is not the time to add permanent new spending programs that will mortgage our children’s future.

With the right policies today, we can hasten the day when Canadians will be able to reclaim their normal lives and enjoy an economy that is growing once again.”

About the Canadian Chamber of Commerce – Because Business Matters

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce helps build the businesses that support our families, our communities and our country. We do this by influencing government policy, by providing essential business services and by connecting businesses to information they can use, to opportunities for growth and to a network of local chambers, businesses, decision-makers and peers from across the country, in every sector of the economy and at all levels of government, as well as internationally. We are unapologetic in our support for business and the vital role it plays in building and sustaining our great nation.