Canadian Federation of Independent Business

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is a non-profit business organization representing Canadian owners of small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs). The CFIB has lobbied to restrict aspects of the social safety net, including minimum wages, employment insurance, and personal leave for employees. They advocate for deregulation and lower corporate taxes.^[1][2] The organization's head office is located in Toronto and there is a regional office located in each province. There is also a national office located in Ottawa.

Canadian Federation of Independent Business

English logo
Formation	1971; 52 years ago (1971)
Founder	John Bulloch
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario
President	Dan Kelly (lobbyist)
Website	www.cfib.ca

History

Born out of a 1969 tax protest, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business was officially founded in 1971 by John Bulloch, a small business owner and business professor at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now TMU). Bulloch had formed The Canadian Council for Fair Taxation in 1969 to fight the White Paper on Taxation proposed by the then Minister of Finance, Edgar Benson. Under the terms of the White Paper, Canadian small businesses faced the prospect of an increased tax rate of 50%. The White Paper was ultimately withdrawn and the CCFT was succeeded by the enduring CFIB.

As of 2021^[update], Dan Kelly (lobbyist) is the president and CEO. He succeeded Catherine Swift.^{[citation needed]}

Membership

Members must be Canadian-based privately owned companies. Business size is not a criterion for membership.

Fundraising

CFIB's sole source of funding is membership dues; it receives no donations or government funds. As of 2015, the fees ranged from a minimum of $250 a year to $3,500 a year, depending on the size of the business.^[3]

Political activity

CFIB describes itself as a non-partisan political advocacy organization working with all federal and provincial parties. However, Professor Gilles LeVasseur says that, for a long time, they exclusively courted the Conservative Party and only started striving for a broader appeal among all federal parties in the 21st century.^[3] The group's leader, Dan Kelly (lobbyist), says the perception of CFIB ties to the Conservative Party only existed in the mid-2010s because the Tories had been in power for a long time, and that the organisation also had a close relationship with the Paul Martin's Liberal Party when they were in power.^[3]

Political positions

The CFIB lobbies:

• For right-to-work legislation
• Against funding public transit
• For lower business taxes
• For deregulation
• For raising the Lifetime Capital Gains Tax Exemption
• Against increased contributions to Employment Insurance and the Canada Pension Plan (CPP)
• For privatized pension plans
• Against increasing the minimum wage, calling the idea of a $15 minimum wage a "dumb policy"^[3]

Dan Kelly (lobbyist) stood at the podium with finance minister Joe Oliver when he announced cuts to Employment Insurance rates for small businesses. However, the CFIB was at odds with the Harper government when they ended the long-form census. They also opposed the reforms made to the temporary foreign worker program in 2014.

The CFIB had also opposed big bank mergers in Canada.^[3]

Positions during the 2019 Federal election

During the 2019 Canadian federal election, the CFIB sided with the United States in criticizing the longstanding Universal Postal Union fees for Chinese shipments. A spokesperson stated that "the United States is raising a valid point about unfairness in international trade. Businesses in China have an unfair advantage when they can ship to a customer in the US or Canada for less than it would cost a Canadian business to ship to that same customer."^[4] The Canadian government ultimately supported the United States' position at an extraordinary congress of the union.^[5]

Positions during the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic

For information on the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, see COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federation advocated in favour of subsidies for small business owners and against support for workers.

In March 2020, at the beginning of the crisis, CFIB released a survey of their member businesses claiming that one third of them feared imminent closures without significant government assistance.^[6] CFIB criticized Prime Minister Trudeau's March 24 proposal of a 10% wage subsidy for businesses for a maximum of $25,000 as "a drop in the bucket of what is absolutely necessary right now, and certainly a fraction of what is happening in Western Europe."^[7] The next year, in July 2021, the CFIB asked the federal government for further subsidies for businesses.^[8]

In July 2020, between the first and second waves of infection, the CFIB warned that expanded employment insurance benefits for workers could hurt business owners, and that the safety-net program would "serve as a disincentive for many part-time workers to return to their pre-COVID employment."^[9] The CFIB polled 3,389 employers and reported that 27% claimed that workers whom they had laid off declined an offer of re-employment. About 870 business owners also claimed that their former employees preferred to collect the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) rather than return to work.^[10] CFIB president Dan Kelly (lobbyist) said that CERB created a "disincentive" to work, particularly in the hospitality industry, where 45% of recalled workers in "hotels, restaurants and bars" declined the offer to return to work. In a Canadian Press interview, Ian Robb, the Unite Here union's president, said that safety concerns, not CERB, were the problem, as most people's salaries represent much more than the amount CERB offers.^[10] Later that month Canada experienced a spike in COVID-19 cases.^[11]

Research

CFIB produces research on the Canadian small and medium-sized business sector, based on the views and experiences its members. Issues of concern to the Canadian SME community are identified by CFIB members through surveys, opinion polls and face-to-face visits. Those views and opinions are then delivered to all three levels of government in the form of research reports, meetings and testimony. These concerns are far ranging but typically include tax policy,^[12] labour policies^[13][14] and regulatory policy.^[15] One of CFIB's regular reports is the "Business Barometer", a monthly research report detailing the economic expectations of Canada's small businesses. CFIB also holds an annual "Red Tape Awareness Week" during which they release a number of research reports advocating for deregulation of small business.^[14]

References

1. Guadagnolo, Dan (17 August 2020). "No, COVID Support Cash Doesn't Make Workers Lazy. Here's Who Pushed that Myth". The Tyee. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
2. Eppel, Ben (27 January 2021). "CFIB calling on federal government to close loophole in EI benefits". Kitchener Today. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
3. "Business group's influence in Ottawa reaches new heights". thestar.com. 2015-02-09. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
4. "U.S. withdrawal from postal treaty could have implications for Canadian e-commerce businesses". The Globe and Mail Inc. 16 September 2019.
5. "World Postal Union Rejects Trump's Favored Reform Plan". Associated Press. 24 September 2019.
6. "Coronavirus: Third of Canadian small businesses fear imminent closure without help, survey says". Global News. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
7. "Business owners call for direct wage subsidies to prevent a cascade of layoffs, bankruptcies". ca.news.yahoo.com. CBC News. from the original on 2020-03-25. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
8. Villella, Stephanie (27 July 2021). "'How are we going to survive?': CFIB petitioning to have wage and rent subsidy extended". CTV. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
9. Harris, Kathleen (20 August 2020). "New $37B COVID-19 aid package extends CERB, expands EI and adds 'recovery' benefits". CBC News. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
10. Balakrishnan, Anita (July 16, 2020). "Some employees cite CERB as reason to refuse return to work, CFIB survey says". CP via CP24. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
11. Desai, Devika. "As young people come out of lockdown, Canada is seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases". National Post. Archived from the original on February 18, 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
12. "CFIB Tax Research Program - www.cfib-fcei.ca" Archived 2013-01-15 at archive.today
13. "Minimum Wage: Reframing the Debate" February 2011 Archived 2013-09-11 at archive.today
14. Workers' compensation boards under the microscope
15. Red Tape Awareness Week 2014 2012-10-27 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Official website