The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - The Liberals’ Impact on Local Businesses

00:00:00.840 Hello and welcome once again to The Blueprints. This is Canada's Conservative Podcast. I'm

00:00:05.080 your host, Jamie Schmael, Member of Parliament for Halliburton-Caworth-A-Lakes-Brock. With

00:00:08.560 new content for you every single Tuesday, 1.30pm Eastern Time, we ask that you like,

00:00:13.080 subscribe, comment, share this program, help us push back against that ever-moving Liberal

00:00:18.000 agenda. And of course, if you can't listen or watch the entire program right this second,

00:00:22.300 you can download it, listen to it later on on platforms like CastBox, iTunes, Google

00:00:26.080 Play, Spotify, you name it, it is out there. We've got a great show lined up for you today.

00:00:31.720 You probably have noticed already, and we've talked about it many times on this program

00:00:35.500 before, the labour shortage, the supply chain problems, the issues with small businesses,

00:00:40.440 how's those job creators, those wealth creators in our community are struggling during this

00:00:44.760 pandemic. So, I brought two amazing people on the show today to talk about this. We have

00:00:49.100 Tracy Gray, the Member of Parliament for Kelowna Lake Country. She's also the Shatter Minister 1.00

00:00:53.100 for Small Business Recovery and Growth, and also Scott Aitchison, my next-door neighbour

00:00:57.680 to the north. Perry South Muskoka is his riding, he's also the Shadow Minister for Labour. Welcome

00:01:02.560 both of you. Thank you. Great to be here. It's great to have you here. This is amazing because

00:01:06.260 this is content you probably are not hearing on the mainstream media. So, let's talk about

00:01:10.000 this. Small businesses are hurting. We all have small businesses right across the country

00:01:13.880 that I'm sure everyone's heard from. What's going on? It is an incredibly challenging

00:01:18.460 time right now for small business, and especially micro-businesses as well. Everything from labour

00:01:25.140 shortage to supply chain. We've got increasing payroll taxes continuing. We've got debt that

00:01:32.380 a lot of small businesses are incurring. And then just overall cost increases with inflation.

00:01:37.620 So, it's an incredibly difficult time right now for small businesses.

00:01:41.360 And not only that, we're dealing with a labour shortage.

00:01:43.460 Well, it's interesting. The labour shortage, of course, is acute for small businesses,

00:01:47.540 but it's acute for every business. Big business as well. And skilled trades is a particularly

00:01:53.280 troubled area. I mean, we're desperate for people to work. You can think of countless examples

00:01:59.220 everywhere across the country in communities where Tim Hortons, for example, isn't open 24 hours

00:02:05.200 anymore. Or they don't have the eating in portion of their restaurant open, just the drive-through.

00:02:10.880 They just can't find people to work. It's a huge issue in the tourism and hospitality industry.

00:02:17.080 Restaurants, you know, they just can't be open seven days a week because they just can't find

00:02:21.120 the staff. And hotels always had trouble with housekeeping staff. But now you're hearing about

00:02:27.200 trouble finding people in every part of their business. It's a major issue. It's across the

00:02:32.260 country, and it's business is big and small.

00:02:34.440 Now, what are you seeing as possible solutions to this on the small business side, on the labour

00:02:39.140 side? Well, there's a couple of things. First of all, we need to get people back to work that are

00:02:43.680 able to work. We know that even in September, Statistics Canada released that there were a million

00:02:49.400 job postings. We also know that in September, towards the end of September, there were still

00:02:55.200 approximately a million people that were on CRB. And, you know, there's other programs as well.

00:03:01.700 So it's really important that we get people back to work that are able to work.

00:03:04.560 There's also some changes that can happen in some of our immigration policies. For example,

00:03:10.380 one very specific that I've written the minister on, that was brought forth to me by tourism

00:03:15.420 organizations, is to extend some of the worker visas that have just expired. It's a very simple

00:03:21.260 fix. These are people that are here. They're ready and able to work. So that's one of the solutions.

00:03:26.760 But you're absolutely right. It's across all sectors. I just had someone reach out to me from

00:03:30.780 my riding in Kelowna Lake, excuse me, Kelowna Lake Country that has a security company. And

00:03:36.260 they're not able to fulfill their contracts. They've actually had to pay a lot of fees for

00:03:42.100 breaking contracts with their clients. And they're not able to take on new business. So it's affecting

00:03:48.420 them. They're not able to grow. And they're not even able to fulfill the existing business that

00:03:52.260 they've taken on.

00:03:52.880 Yeah. So one question that kind of gets, it's kind of people saying tongue in cheek,

00:03:57.960 but has a spaceship come down and abducted all these people that used to be in the workforce?

00:04:03.380 In fact, most of the jobs, in fact, almost all of the jobs lost as a result of the pandemic

00:04:09.460 have been filled again. But we're seeing, you know, quite a bit of activity in our economy. It's

00:04:15.660 growing pretty rapidly. And of course, what's been missing too is our immigration numbers have been down

00:04:22.360 dramatically over the course of the pandemic. Canada needs immigration to keep growing. 1.00

00:04:26.940 Otherwise, we just won't. And we're seeing some of the results of that now. But that's one of the

00:04:32.780 big issues. We need more people. And, you know, when it comes to things like skilled trades, Tracy made 0.99

00:04:37.420 some really great points about things that we can and should be doing to help fill this gap and support

00:04:42.680 small business and big business. You know, but, you know, look at some of the areas like skilled trades,

00:04:49.380 for example, I'm spending a lot of time meeting with labor leaders. And one of the things we're

00:04:53.560 hearing from them is that, you know, the shortage in skilled trades, you can't just fill those jobs

00:04:58.260 like that. They have incredible training programs. And we need to get people into those programs. We

00:05:03.840 need to start now. And we need to be supporting those programs. That's certainly one of the things

00:05:08.120 as conservative as we campaigned on that, investing heavily in those training programs to encourage young

00:05:13.540 people to get into a skilled trade. It's one of the best careers you can have. And it's not been

00:05:20.020 pushed nearly enough, I don't think. And so some of these things are going to take a little longer

00:05:23.780 to solve. But, you know, one of the things, too, I was going to say as well, in the province of

00:05:28.880 Ontario specifically, Monty McNaughton, the Minister of Labor there, is making some really great moves to

00:05:34.500 recognize credentials of new Canadians sooner and faster so they can get into the workforce.

00:05:40.540 You've all heard the crazy stories of doctors driving cabs in Toronto because their qualifications

00:05:46.840 aren't recognized. So they're moving to make that recognition and those qualifications recognized

00:05:52.100 here faster. All these kinds of things. We need to pull every lever, push every button,

00:05:57.580 and all be working together at all levels to solve this. It is a crisis and it's crippling

00:06:02.280 business across the country. Absolutely. I think the red flags for especially skilled trades,

00:06:06.920 because we're on this topic, has been being waived for a long time. And we're just seeing the

00:06:12.120 ramifications of that now. But you're right, the skilled trades are a great place to get into

00:06:18.260 because in money cases, you have low student debt, less time in school, and you're making top dollar

00:06:23.680 when you get out. And I think that goes to the small business side, that goes to the labor side.

00:06:27.900 On that note as well, just with respect to certifications, is that we do have a lot of

00:06:33.260 interprovincial trade barriers. And one of those does have to do with certifications and red seal

00:06:39.660 certifications that may not be recognized in other provinces. And so you've got people that might be

00:06:45.100 moving to different areas of the country and they're not able to work in their field.

00:06:49.820 So on that as well, just from an economic recovery point of view, taking down a lot of other

00:06:54.360 interprovincial trade barriers, having to do with movement of people and goods is very important.

00:07:00.280 We're leaving billions of dollars on the table every year. And this will be really important to

00:07:04.820 our economic recovery. As an Ontarian, it'd be nice to have BC wine every once in a while.

00:07:09.620 There's nothing wrong with Ontario wine. But you're right, in some cases, we've heard many times,

00:07:13.980 it's easier to do business with another country than it is provinces within our confederation.

00:07:19.000 Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, we should be able to move people and goods across this country

00:07:23.940 very easily. There's other countries that have figured this out, you know, that had restrictions

00:07:28.820 and they've removed those barriers and they've seen huge success. So as we're moving into economic

00:07:34.200 recovery and growth, getting out of this pandemic, it's definitely one of the one of the priorities

00:07:38.400 that the government should be should be working on. It's a very easy solution to work with the

00:07:42.300 provinces on.

00:07:43.540 So 4.7% inflation, we see no, no end to this. I don't think the way the government is thinking

00:07:49.900 about solving it. Of course, they talk about another government program to solve

00:07:53.500 this ongoing inflation problem. But it's just compounding the issue. The problem is we continue

00:08:00.460 to spend. So what impact is that having on the labour supply? What is that having on the small

00:08:05.300 business issue?

00:08:06.980 Well, I would say that this time around, the one variable that's different this time around

00:08:10.840 with this latest pandemic spending program that the government has introduced, is that this

00:08:15.960 time we have finance committee finally up and running. And we will take a critical look

00:08:21.380 at every single thing that they plan to invest that money in. You know, I think one of the

00:08:26.280 reasons we are in the situation we are in is because of government spending. They spend fast

00:08:31.320 and loose with that money. It was way more in some circumstances, and in some circumstances

00:08:36.280 people got money that really didn't need it at all. And so as a result of too much money chasing

00:08:41.880 too few goods, because of course, you know, supply chains were interrupted, people weren't

00:08:45.560 working. You know, it's the perfect recipe for inflation. And so there's no question that

00:08:50.500 there'll be some very specific sectors that still need some help. But we want to make really

00:08:54.300 sure that it's those sectors getting that money specifically. And so I'm pleased that

00:08:59.520 our finance committee is up and running. But we got to make sure that they don't have a

00:09:03.200 blank check, because this has been the problem. This is what happens with liberal blank checks.

00:09:08.000 Everyone thinks it's all wonderful because they spend, spend, spend. But the implications

00:09:11.860 are serious. Inflation isn't just some economics, you know, discussion. It's real lies.

00:09:18.260 It is.

00:09:18.660 There are people in every one of our ridings that we know personally that are worried about

00:09:23.380 whether they're going to be able to eat their home this summer, this winter. There are people

00:09:26.040 worried about whether they're going to be able to put groceries on the table. They can't drive the

00:09:29.080 work. This is a serious issue. And, you know, it's not good enough for, you know, this liberal

00:09:36.760 government to stand up and say, oh, inflation's a big problem all around the world.

00:09:39.540 Yeah.

00:09:40.280 Well, who cares? How am I going to heat my home this winter?

00:09:44.020 And there are examples of other countries that have not turned on the printing presses

00:09:47.380 that have lower inflation. But I don't know if you want to add on to that, Tracy, or not?

00:09:50.800 Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's something that is affecting every person, in particular seniors

00:09:54.920 that are on fixed income. It also just adds to the cost of doing business. But also just,

00:10:01.440 you know, we've also got housing costs that are going up there. REMAX just put out a recent

00:10:05.980 statement saying that they expect housing prices to increase over 9% again next year.

00:10:10.460 So how does this make it even possible for our youth to even consider owning a home? So

00:10:16.980 you've got inflation going up. You've got housing prices going up. And this liberal government

00:10:21.380 really does not have any specific ways that they're addressing us. They do have some programs

00:10:27.520 that they're just filtering money through. But it's not addressing the actual issues that

00:10:32.040 are out there. And and coming up with some of those some of those long term solutions.

00:10:37.320 Well, I think that's the issue with this liberal government, no matter what file they're on.

00:10:40.780 It's more about the amount of money they can throw at something not about actually

00:10:44.680 achieving results. And this is why we continue to have one problem after another. And I go back to

00:10:50.680 the daycare issue there. What is going right in this government right now that they say, you know

00:10:55.700 what, we're ready to tackle something else, right? Are veterans still waiting for their

00:10:59.860 services? Yes. Our indigenous communities still have boil water advisories? Yes. Are we in a housing 0.85

00:11:04.400 crisis? Yeah. So they're actually saying, yeah, you know what, we're going to take something else on

00:11:08.160 and and somehow fix everything. And I think they're using as a distraction point to take away from what

00:11:15.020 is really happening. We are deficit financing these programs such as this daycare program.

00:11:20.760 Well, they don't even they don't even get the programs done. They've been promising billions in

00:11:25.720 rural internet. And still so many communities are still not connected. They've been promising

00:11:30.800 billions in housing and still particularly in rural communities, housing is still a major crisis

00:11:35.580 because they've been kind of ignored. So this is a photo ops and, you know, announcements government,

00:11:41.420 not a results government. And the, you know, the daycare program is going to take years to roll out,

00:11:47.360 but also adding to the costs as well. I mean, we're dealing, we're seeing this right now is is them

00:11:52.280 trying to get a softwood lumber agreement. And this has been a huge failure. You know, the last agreement

00:11:56.920 expired in 2015, when we had a conservative government, and they've literally done nothing

00:12:01.240 for six years. And so what's happened is we have lost a lot of capacity here in Canada, a lot of

00:12:07.600 production, it's all going to the gone to the US. So throughout North America, the production is still the

00:12:12.680 same, but Canada has lost it and it's it's lost it to the US. And so because our supply

00:12:17.160 chains are so integrated, it's now increased the cost of lumber here, which increases the cost of

00:12:22.300 home renovations and building houses, it all flows through. So because they've really not focused on

00:12:28.060 these important economic issues, you know, now six years later, here we are, and they're they're

00:12:34.540 scrambling trying to trying to deal with it. All right, question period is coming up. So we need to

00:12:39.380 get down to the chamber. As always, I always give the guests the final word. Tracy, why don't I start

00:12:44.400 with you? Well, thank you very much for the opportunity. And as the shadow minister for

00:12:49.540 small business recovery and growth, I just want everyone out there to know that I know what it's

00:12:53.800 like, I have had everything on the line as a small business owner. So I will be here fighting for you.

00:12:59.860 I just want to say thanks again, James, it's been an honor to be here. I've dreamt of being on this

00:13:04.200 program for some time. And so finally, I'm here. And it's, it's great to be here. And I'm with Tracy,

00:13:09.100 you know, this is an important issue. Inflation, the labor shortage, your whole conservative team

00:13:14.980 is fighting for you, for sure. All right, Scott Aitchison, member of parliament for Paris,

00:13:18.560 South Muskoka, also the shadow minister for labor, Tracy Gray, to my immediate left. She is the member

00:13:24.020 of parliament in the beautiful province of British Columbia, Kelowna Lake Country. She's also the

00:13:27.600 shadow minister for small business recovery and growth. We thank them both for their content. And we

00:13:32.460 thank you for listening and for watching. We do ask that you like, comment, subscribe, share this program,

00:13:37.020 because I guarantee you there will be someone in your social media network that might be open to

00:13:41.240 hearing a conservative message, but they aren't getting it in the mainstream media. This is your

00:13:45.420 chance to help that. And as always new content every single Tuesday, 1 30 PM Eastern time,

00:13:50.680 low taxes, less government, more freedom. That's the blueprint.

The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - December 07, 2021

The Liberals’ Impact on Local Businesses

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