New Brunswick’s Business Barometer index has remained unchanged in May 2013 at 58.1. While optimism levels were slightly better than in neighbouring Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick business owners are still somewhat less optimistic than those in the rest of the country.
One of the most pressing issues on the minds of New Brunswick small business owners today is a proposed mandatory universal drug plan. You would be hard pressed to find a business owner that doesn't want to offer a health plan to their employees; however, those employers who do not currently offer such a plan are the ones who can least afford it.
The New Brunswick government’s latest budget has raised personal income taxes significantly (effective July 1
st), and yet the government still can’t plan to balance its budget by 2015. We had been calling for government to cut spending, which has increased dramatically over the past decade in spite of strong revenue growth.
Small business owners know government can’t do it all. So, they’ve asked government for just one thing to help them ring in 2013. The most common request: lower taxes, please.
