Saskatchewan recently ranked highest for believing its provincial government supports entrepreneurship and small businesses. While that may be true for many small businesses in the province, that opinion doesn't necessarily span the spectrum here in Humboldt.
The survey polled small- to medium-sized business owners in all the provinces and asked them how they felt about various aspects of the business atmosphere in their province. With relation to Saskatchewan's highest ranking for positive responses, some small business owners in Humboldt don't concur because of their views on government policies.
"I don't agree with the taxation on some of the products we sell," said Andy McAnally, owner of Causeway Natural Health.
"I also have concerns about minimum wage. I agree that people need to be able to make a good living, but that should come through bigger tax breaks for low-income earners and not placed on the shoulders of small businesses."
With regards to the taxation, McAnally believes it should be a bit more discriminatory. According to him, his customers are usually invested in their own health, which saves money on medical care; so there shouldn't be any GST or PST on health supplements.
McAnally isn't the only one. Greg Bay, owner of Center Stage Music, also believes there is room for improvement. He says there should be more tax incentives, loans, and grants available for small business owners.
"There isn't enough available help," said Bay. "We should also be able to get more (tax breaks) like what big businesses are getting."
Despite these perspectives, many of the other small businesses in Humboldt seem fairly neutral on the subject. Lana Muggli from Brickhouse Clothing on Main Street said it was really easy for her to set up her business in 2012, even if there weren't that many grants available.
George Pratchler from the Danish Oven said that he neither asked nor expected any help from the government when he took over the business. He did say, however, that he knew quite a few people who did get rebates on their businesses taxes, although "that isn't done anymore." He did, however, have one small not-so-neutral thing to say about provincial support.
"A lot of the support pertains to new businesses these days," said Pratchler. "I know they need that to attract business, but that doesn't really help people who've been paying taxes for years."
Then of course, there were business owners who swung the opposite way entirely and agree with the survey results.
Monica Merkosky from Monico Cresting Inc. never had any problems with the provincial government and even used a hiring program they provided to train someone for the machines. According to her, the program subsidized the wages for up to $5,000.
Then there's Valerie McNally from Sixth Avenue Stylists who says that more businesses are popping up because Saskatchewan is going through a supposed boom. Due to this, the government is supporting entrepreneurship.
"We're progressive. We're in a time of rebuilding Saskatchewan," she said. "The government is supporting people that are trying to start up. (Our economy) isn't stagnant; I think it's working."
"When you look at 300 business owners in Saskatchewan, that's a representative view and a solid sample size to say that's the view of Saskatchewan business owners," said Marilyn Braun-Pollon, vice president of Prairie and Agri-Business.
"It's essentially a tale of two provinces."
What Braun-Pollon is referring to is the almost consistently low rankings for Saskatchewan's next door neighbour: Manitoba. On nearly all the questions, Manitoba scored the lowest in positive responses, tied only with Quebec, which was also very low across the board.
"We wanted to start a constructive dialogue and what's needed to regain the confidence," said Braun-Pollon. "When you look at that, it's evident throughout the results that entrepreneurs support the policy to date, but being competitive is a moving target."
According to Braun-Pollon, these results are indicative of which provinces are doing well and which need more improvement. Moreover, she said that even though Saskatchewan is "leading the pack," that can change very quickly if the provincial government makes "knee jerk" decisions on policy.
"We want to make sure the policies are encouraging them to do what they do best and grow," said Braun-Pollon. "Saskatchewan has introduced policies that have fueled optimism."
While Braun-Pollon did mention some concerns about upcoming talks on education property taxes, she's hoping that the provincial government will maintain its edge by continuing support for small businesses.
"Budget season is in full swing and it's a perfect opportunity for governments to respond to those concerns," she said.
"Each province will have their own challenges, some more than others. We want to make sure our tax system is competitive, focus on reducing that red tape, and having balanced labour laws."
