Our co-founder Daniel Greenhalgh is enthusiastic about ENM’s new membership. “It’s important for businesses like us who don’t have the same level of resources as large companies to have an organization like this looking out for us. They come to each of us and ask us what we think about a certain issue or policy, like raising the minimum wage. Then if a policy comes down, they can go to MPs and say look, here are 1200 businesses that are going to be impacted by this. They make our voices much more powerful and they make our message more succinct.”
Daniel points to a recent policy change mandating that married couples split their income for tax purposes. He says this rule will actively discourage people from going into business for themselves. “The federal government has changed this rule, and I think it’s nonsense. So many couples have both of their incomes tied up in their small business. It’s a clear overreach of bureaucracy, and the CFIB has been vocal about our collective opposition to it. I hope they can make enough of a difference to reverse it.”
Aside from being a policy voice, there are other benefits to CFIB membership that have to do with the day-to-day functioning of a business. For example, they provide certain human resource services that most small businesses don’t have the capacity to address. “As a new CFIB member, ENM will have access to HR programs that we can provide to our employees. They have an anti-bullying program that we’re putting our employees into, and that’s something we couldn’t offer ourselves. They provide templates for hiring packages, confidentiality agreements, employer standards. They advise us on rules about paying for statutory holidays and sick days, and the protocols for dismissing an employee. These are extremely helpful when dealing with the legal issues of being an employer.”
CFIB also assists small businesses in their interactions with the Worker’s Compensation Board. They provide a complaint program for businesses who want to challenge certain rulings. “We do everything we can to be in compliance with the WCB, but if there’s ever an issue that we want to dispute, they give us a great method of doing that. They also have a full-time lawyer on staff who specializes in WCB rules. If we ever have a question about a policy or want to know if he thinks they’re overreaching on certain things, he’ll consult with us about that. That’s a valuable resource to have.”
The CFIB represents over 110,000 small businesses in Canada, including 10,000 in B.C. Membership comes with certain discounts for insurance packages and bank services. They also provide payroll services for their members.
“I’m very happy we decided to join, and I’d encourage any small business to take a look at the CFIB and consider whether they could benefit from their services.”
