Canadian Federation of Independent Business

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is a non-profit business organization representing the interests and concerns of over 110,000 Canadian owners of small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) to all three levels of government. Their areas of concerns include tax policy,[1] labour policies[2][3] and regulatory policy.[4] Traditionally, the CFIB has lobbied against most aspects of the social safety net, including employment insurance, income assistance, old age security and universal medicare.[5] CFIB describes itself as a non-partisan political advocacy organization working with all federal and provincial parties.[6] 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 logo

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. 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 The White Paper was ultimately withdrawn and the CCFT was succeeded by the enduring CFIB.

Catherine Swift succeeded John Bulloch and has been chairwoman, president and chief executive officer (CEO) since 1999. Dan Kelly succeeded Catherine Swift as president and CEO as of 2012, and chair of the board in 2014.

Membership

Members must be Canadian-based privately owned companies. While business size is not a criterion for membership, ninety-six percent of CFIB members have less than fifty people on their payrolls. Fifteen percent are self-employed. Members come from a wide array of industries in the Canadian economy.

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.[6]

Political activity

CFIB describes itself as a non-partisan political advocacy organization working with all federal and provincial parties. However, for a long time, they exclusively courted the Conservative Party, and more recently started striving for a broader appeal among all federal parties in the 21st century. According to the group's leader, Dan Kelly, 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. Kelly says that the organisation also had a close relationship with the Paul Martin's Liberal Party when they were in power.[6]

Political positions

The CFIB lobbies:

Dan Kelly 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.[6]

On January 28, 2021, Dan Kelly admitted that the CFIB does not actually believe in 80% of what they’ve presented to Canadians in the past, however they have been unsuccessful in changing their organizational platform.[7]

Positions during the 2019 Federal election

During the 2019 Canadian federal election, the CFIB came out strongly against the UPU subsidy for Chinese shipments, when a spokesperson noted that:[8]

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.

Donald Trump had tweeted his disfavour to the status quo in April 2018 when he said[9]

Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber and poorer? Should be charging MUCH MORE!

He had indicated his upset prior to the October 2018 passage of the Ending Needless Delivery Subsidies Act.[10]

Positions during the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic
For information on the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, see COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.

The CFIB exercised its notoriety during the COVID-19 pandemic as a leading voice for Canadian small businesses during the crisis. March 2020, CFIB released a survey of Canadian businesses which revealed that 1/3 of Canadian small businesses feared imminent closures without significant government assistance.[11] CFIB criticized Prime Minister Trudeau's March 24th poposal 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."[12]

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,[1] labour policies[2][3] and regulatory policy.[4] 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.[3]

Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)

A CFIB poll conducted between July 3 to July 6, found 27% of 3,389 employers polled said that workers that they had laid off declined the offer of re-employment. About 870 businesses reported that their former employees preferred to collect the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) than return to work[13] CFIB president Dan Kelly 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. Other businesses having difficulty finding workers include those related to "child care, dental offices, home health care, amusement parks, gambling and spectator sports." In a Canadian Press interview, Ian Robb, the Unite Here union's president, said that safety concerns, not CERB, is not the problem, as most people's salaries represent much more than the amount CERB offers.[13]

References
  1. "CFIB Tax Research Program - www.cfib-fcei.ca" Archived 2013-01-15 at Archive.today
  2. "Minimum Wage: Reframing the Debate" February 2011 Archived 2013-09-11 at Archive.today
  3. Workers' compensation boards under the microscope
  4. Red Tape Awareness Week 2014 Archived 2012-10-27 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Why Doesn't the CFIB Support Me? - Raise the Hammer". www.raisethehammer.org. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  6. "Business group's influence in Ottawa reaches new heights". thestar.com. 2015-02-09. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  7. Kelly, Dan (January 28, 2021). "Twitter Account".
  8. "U.S. withdrawal from postal treaty could have implications for Canadian e-commerce businesses". The Globe and Mail Inc. 16 September 2019.
  9. "GOP Senator moves to close shipping loophole that helps Chinese businesses on Amazon". CNBC. 10 April 2018.
  10. "Cassidy Applauds President Trump for Initiating U.S. Withdrawal from Unfair Treaty on International Mail Rates". 17 October 2018.
  11. "Coronavirus: Third of Canadian small businesses fear imminent closure without help, survey says". Global News. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  12. "Business owners call for direct wage subsidies to prevent a cascade of layoffs, bankruptcies". ca.news.yahoo.com. CBC News. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  13. 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.
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