Mary Ng, Canada's Minister for Small Business and Export Promotion, concluded a whirlwind tour of three of the region's chambers of commerce in Whistler, where small businesses make up the backbone of the resort's business landscape.
Ng was in town on Friday, Feb. 22 alongside Sea to Sky MP Pam Goldsmith-Jones to take part in a Whistler Chamber of Commerce-led event at the Maury Young Arts Centre, where the discussion touched on everything from the resort's longstanding labour shortage to the rising costs of commercial space to supporting women entrepreneurs.
Pique also had the chance to interview Ng before the event. What follows are excerpts from that conversation as well as the public Q&A that ensued.
On how Ottawa can best support resort communities with distinct labour needs by streamlining the Temporary Foreign Worker application process:
"I know that (labour) minister (Patty) Hajdu has put some resources into her department to make sure the applications that are already in the queue will get through a lot quicker. I know that that has been a real issue for businesses, because I've been hearing it not only here, but in other parts of the country. She absolutely has put some resources there to relieve a bit of that bottleneck that is there.
"There are also a couple of pilots that (immigration) minister (Ahmed) Hussen has been working on that have been successful ... What we're talking about is a pilot that they did in Atlantic Canada, where there were severe labour shortages. So what he did was put together an accelerated immigration plan, that aren't temporary foreign workers, but immigrants, immigrants who will go through absolutely the same screening, but a whole lot quicker."
On whether providing housing should be a responsibility of small-business owners:
"I want to applaud the employers who have taken the initiative to provide housing for their employees. I think that leadership has been excellent. The federal government, of course, has a national affordable housing strategy that is working across the country to ensure there is more affordable housing for more Canadians. With respect to Whistler, it is something that we are going to have to pay particular attention to."
On how to combat the loss of small businesses locally that struggle to afford the rising cost of commercial rental space:
"At the federal level, we certainly want to ensure that businesses are competitive and that they do well. We have lowered the small-business tax rate to nine per cent in January of this year. That has come down from 11 per cent. This is really significant because it helps small businesses and it helps with some additional money that businesses will be able to retain at the end of the year, up to $7,500."
On how to support women entrepreneurs:
"We need to do a better job at increasing the number of women entrepreneurs, so I have a mandate to double that number (16 per cent of Canadian businesses) by 2025 ... That $2-billion strategy includes debt financing, loans to women entrepreneurs. It includes an ecosystem fund that we are putting out that will really give local organizations that capacity in an ecosystem to help guide and wayfind for women entrepreneurs where and how best to access supports, get access to mentorship and the services that will be helpful for them to grow their businesses."
