Phil McColeman
FOR BRANT NEWS

The pre-budget economic consultation that I hosted at the end of January was a worthwhile endeavour.

It generated excellent feedback on the best way to move forward in the upcoming federal budget.

I have long been encouraging input from individuals and businesses in Brant on their ideas leading into the next federal budget. Additionally, I felt it was important to invite key stakeholders and representatives from government, business, labour and community organizations from Brant to provide a full picture of the challenges, needs and opportunities that we face in the coming year.

Participants in the roundtable discussion included representatives from the City of Brantford economic development department, Nipissing University, Enterprise Brant, the Grand Erie Workforce Planning Board, the Brantford Home Builders Association, Six Nations economic development, the Brantford-Brant Chamber of Commerce and the Mississauga’s of the New Credit economic development department.

Also invited but unable to attend were representatives from the Brantford and District Labour Council, the County of Brant, the Brant County Federation of Agriculture, the Paris District Chamber of Commerce, the Burford Revitalization Committee, the Brantford real estate board, the Downtown Brantford BIA, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the Paris BIA, Laurier Brantford and Mohawk College.

The discussion was open, honest and resulted in many excellent ideas that I have brought forward to the minister of finance. The views expressed were wide ranging, however, a few common and recurring themes emerged.

First and foremost was the need to eliminate needless government duplication and red tape. While our government’s red tape reduction committee has made some good progress in this area, including the creation of the one-for-one rule (where every time the government adopts a new regulation, it must eliminate an existing one), there is a substantial amount of work to do in this regard.

Participants demonstrated how red tape is costly for all Brant residents: It impedes productivity and undermines trust between government and citizens.

Moving forward, I will be pushing our government to cut more red tape and free Brant employers from becoming bogged down in the quagmire that government regulations can create.

Suggestions also focused heavily on targeted skills development for the jobs of the future, tax reduction for small and medium-sized enterprises that are likely to drive future growth in Brant, as well as additional support to attract foreign investment and skilled workers from abroad.

Although at times the conversation was blunt – painting an unvarnished image of some unique challenges confronting our community – the collective determination of participants to work together toward common solutions was more than apparent.

A sincere thank you to those who participated in the economic roundtable and to the many individuals who have taken the time to provide me with their thoughts and ideas. I truly appreciate your commitment to our community and country.

Phil McColeman is MP 
for Brant.