PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Finding a balance
Discover Halifax
Nova Scotia’s budget season is here
@prezhfxchamber
As we often joke, it’s the most wonderful time of the year!”
PATRICK SULLIVAN PRESIDENT & CEO
E
ach year, the Halifax Chamber’s policy team reviews the past budgets of both the municipal and provincial governments and provides pre-budget submissions that contain recommendations on the issues most affecting our members. These issues include reducing the corporate tax rate, cutting red tape, paying down our debts and increasing immigration. Our 1,700 members make up the fabric of Halifax’s business community. They inspire new businesses, they contribute to our growing GDP and they attract investment. Our pre-budget submissions allow our members the opportunity to share their ideas directly with government in solidarity with the business community.
We tip our hats to the Office of Regulatory Modernization for their recent work in reducing red tape. The Halifax Chamber of Commerce, CFIB, the Halifax Partnership, business improvement districts, the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities, the Construction Association of Nova Scotia, Restaurants Canada, representatives from the development community and staff from HRM and the province joined forces two years ago to find long-term solutions to complicated issues. As Jordi Morgan, Vice-President of CFIB Atlantic Provinces points to in his Jan. 20, 2020 Chronicle Herald op-ed: “We’re making progress. A ridiculous patio-licensing system fiasco has been resolved, solutions are underway to fix long-standing irritants around signage bylaws, a new streamlined municipal permitting and licensing system will be launched online in 2020 to shorten wait times and improve service delivery, staff are looking at regulatory proposals using the critical lens of a charter of principles and the city is now beginning
to measure the impact of its regulatory decision-making.” Cape Breton’s municipalities and others in the province are looking to these successes to build plans of their own to modernize regulations. The more support we have from Nova Scotia’s communities, the more we can accomplish. It may seem repetitive, but these issues continue to be at the forefront for a reason. They keep us from achieving our goals as a growing city and economic driver for Nova Scotia. Let’s keep the pressure on our governments. We want to hear from you, our members. Is your business experiencing red tape? Struggling with tax increases? Running into permit barriers? Finding it difficult to recruit human capital? Is there a positive business story we should know about? Reach out to the Halifax Chamber and let us know what you’ve experienced. We can then take these issues straight to government and work to find a solution. As we often joke, “it’s the most wonderful time of the year!” ■
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