Chamber of Commerce not impressed with Alberta budget

The 2018 Alberta Budget is nothing to celebrate from a small business perspective, says an official with the Red Deer and District Chamber of Commerce.
 
Reg Warkentin says members aren’t feeling the economic recovery Finance Minister Joe Ceci is boasting about.
 
‘We’re still in an energy-focused economy and our competitiveness has been significantly eroded through a number of costs and increasing competitiveness in the United States, as well as through energy independence,” he says. “We’re really getting hit from all sides here and there’s nothing in the budget to address business competitiveness.”
 
A recent survey of Chamber members suggests most will see business stay about the same through 2018, and belt-tightening, as Warkentin puts it, will continue to be the norm.
 
“It’ would’ve been good even if we could’ve taken a break in increasing the carbon tax or the minimum wage. That would’ve shown significant goodwill,” he states.
 
“Small business are cutting back on some of their capital spending, or increasing prices and even resorting to laying off employees and reducing benefts to try to save money.”
 
There may be a glimmer of hope, according to Warkentin, who says petro-diversification spending could help find a market for Alberta oil and gas products, but those projects take years to build.
 
On the forecasted deficit announced Thursday, he says, “Especially with oil and gases being a little higher than expected, we feel the fiscal plan takes on some very rosy assumptions and it’s not really a true or stable plan to get to balance by 2023.”