Weekly Update: March 19 – 25, 2021

Carbon Tax Ruling Provides Policy Certainty but Concerns Remain About the Competitiveness of Canadian Businesses

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled the federal government's carbon pricing regime is constitutional. Following this decision by the Supreme Court of Canada, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce issued a statement that reiterates that while the decision provides clarity, the issue remains divisive for many Canadians. Understanding that the federal carbon tax and its incremental increases on the price of carbon over the following decades are here to stay is one thing. Ensuring businesses are able to successfully navigate a carbon price with confidence is quite another. Read the statement.

Budget Rollouts | Where Do We Go from Here?

On April 19, the federal government will present its first budget in more than two years. There can be no doubt that Canada’s recovery will be business-led. While subsidies and stimulus spending have been important, the only path to real, sustainable growth is job creation and business investment. Our members, business owners from Main Street to C-suite and everything in between want one thing from this budget: a clear plan to help them lead Canada’s economic recovery. This week, we issued a statement on those policy pushes that will help Canada’s recovery. Read the statement.

Precision Agriculture Is a Game-changer for Canada’s Farmers

Canadian Chamber member Syngenta Canada, along with CCC Policy Advisor Jarred Cohen, discuss the future of farming and the importance of ongoing funding and incentives for digitization with the food and farmer sectors and how this will position Canada well for post-COVID-19 recovery in this recent piece from The Globe and Mail. Read more.

Disappointed by a Lack of Agreement between Union and Employers, Chamber and Industry Associations Call for Federal Government to Prevent Strike Action at the Port of Montreal

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce called upon the federal minister of labour to immediately use all tools at her disposal to resolve and prevent any disruption of service at the Port of Montreal. We must work to ensure smooth and uninterrupted operations at the port. It is critical to keeping Canadians employed, safe, and healthy throughout this tumultuous time. Read the letter.

Alberta’s Business Community and Post Secondaries Team Up on Talent Development

Alberta’s business community and post-secondary institutions are taking action to align skills development with labour market demands through a new Talent Development Task Force. Led by the Alberta Chambers of Commerce (ACC) and Council of Post-Secondary Presidents of Alberta (COPPOA), the task force will focus on strengthening the alignment of post-secondary programming with opportunities for business growth and expanding work-integrated learning opportunities for post-secondary students. The task force will be comprised of regional representatives from the business community and post-secondary institutions, industry, and funding leaders. We are pleased that the Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce will be an active member of this task force as it moves forward as the work of this task force aligns well with work already in progress in our region. Read the Alberta Chambers press release online.

Fighting for better programs for farmers and ranchers

The March 25 federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers’ meeting resulted in a deal for farmers and ranchers. All three Prairie provinces voted in favour of removing the reference margin limit (RML), which will provide support to producers across the country experiencing declines in farm income. The Prairie provinces are also working closely to advance policy reforms as part of the next agricultural funding framework in 2023 to improve AgriStability for all agriculture producers. Our Chamber will also continue to push for improving risk management programs for agriculture producers and the recommendations we've outlined in our policy position.

Carbon tax ruling leaves concerns about the competitiveness of Canadian businesses

The government will need to address issues for businesses facing sector-specific challenges, including agriculture, and small-to-medium-sized businesses that will be particularly hard-hit by the tax. Finding solutions will require government working alongside business to help them successfully navigate policies and address industry concerns like the high costs of decarbonisation and how to stay competitive. Read the Canadian Chamber's full statement.

Government of Canada Announces Date of Budget 2021

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, will present Budget 2021 in the House of Commons on April 19, 2021, at approximately 4:00 p.m. ET. The Canadian Chamber issued a pre-budget statement leading up to April's announcement: "For all of the subsidy and stimulus spending Canada has seen and will continue to see, the only path to real, sustainable growth is job creation and business investment. Our members, businesses from Main Street to C-Suite and everything in between, want one thing from this budget: a clear plan to help them lead Canada’s economic recovery. They are ready to kick start our shared recovery, but they need the government to do its part and create an encouraging business environment”.