Conservatives proclaim 2011 as Year of the Entrepreneur

The Harper Conservatives have launched a new campaign recognizing 2011 as the Year of the Entrepreneur, while emphasizing the essential role the government expects small and medium-sized businesses to play in securing Canada's economic future.
Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism Rob Moore was unable to attend last Tuesday’s announcement in Montreal, but said in an exclusive phone interview with the Laval News that he is optimistic the government’s program will prove to be a key component in Canada’s and Quebec’s full economic recovery.

Cutting Red Tape
On Jan. 13, Prime Minister Stephen Harper launched the Treasury Board’s Red Tape Reduction Commission to find further ways to reduce federal regulatory requirements on Canadian enterprises. The Harper government claims to have eliminated almost 80,000 red tape requirements for small and medium-sized businesses since 2009.
Moore, a New Brunswick MP, is chairing the Red Tape Reduction Commission, which will be receiving input from business owners across the country. “Our job is, number one, to consult with business on specific red tape irritants, and, number two, to consult on short-term solutions to those issues, as well as long-term solutions to red tape,” he said.
“Red tape has a disproportionate impact on small business, because they don’t have the staff, they don’t have the professionals to deal with red tape as it arises frequently,” Moore added. “Essentially it takes people away from what their primary focus is, and that’s running the business, employing their employees, knowing their product, providing their service etc.”
The government claims to have implemented the following actions for small business: delivering more than $200 billion in tax relief to Canadians since 2006, while enabling entrepreneurs to put more of their revenues back into their businesses. The government says the amount of business income eligible for the small business tax rate of 11 percent was raised to $500,000 from $300,000.

Stimulating growth
The government says it is committed to supporting small businesses and has established programs and services to stimulate economic growth, create more jobs for Canadians and help businesses compete and succeed in the global marketplace. The government says the designation of Year of the Entrepreneur marks a new phase in the Conservatives’ so-called Economic Action Plan, one in which the government is depending on entrepreneurs to do what they do best — drive the economy forward.
Through the Year of the Entrepreneur, the government claims it is recognizing the contribution of entrepreneurs to Canada's economy, and the resilience and innovation Canadian entrepreneurs demonstrated during the most challenging days of the global economic recession over the past few years. The designation also coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and the 15th anniversary of the Canadian Youth Business Foundation.

Help for Small Businesses
The Harper government says it is delivering $15 million annually to support the Canada Business network. The network, according to the government, was put in place to provide information to help business owners start up and grow their businesses. The information is available through a website, a national toll-free phone line and 13 regional service centres. The government says it also established BizPaL, another online service whose purpose is to simplify the business permit and license process for entrepreneurs, governments, and third-party business service providers.

Debit and Credit Code
Introduced by the Harper Government, and passed into law last year, the government says it created the code to encourage choice and competition in the credit and debit market for the benefit of consumers and merchants. The code’s purpose is to promote fair business practices to ensure that merchants and consumers understand the costs and benefits of credit and debit cards. The government says the program is also meant to make credit and debit pricing flexibility more available to merchants and to encourage consumers to locate the lowest-cost payment option.