It’s a bit counterintuitive that the CFIB’s six focus areas for the NB provincial election do not include anything about growth – economic growth, population growth, nothing. The six are:
1. Improving tax competitiveness
2. Reducing “red tape”
3. Achieving long-term fiscal sustainability
4. Improving local governance
5. Enhancing productivity, skills, and training
6. Stabilizing and lowering electricity costs
Maybe I am missing something but it seems to me the average CFIB member might put growth of the economy ahead of electricity costs. If New Brunswick’s GDP had grown by a modest 2% per year between 2008 and 2013 it would have added another $3.3 billion to the GDP (compared to what really happened). This $3.3 billion would have resulted in hundreds of millions per year in new revenue to New Brunswick’s SMEs. Still think local governance is more important?
Who knows. Maybe the CFIB doesn’t think the government can influence population or economic growth. Maybe they see it as a side effect of reducing red tape. Not sure.
I would be surprised if you asked NB SMEs would they rather have growing local markets or less red tape – I suspect the answer would be growing local markets.