The fall session of Parliament began on Monday (September 18th) and already MP Blake Richards and the Conservatives are on the offensive.

Richards is putting pressure on the Federal Liberals to change their proposed tax changes for businesses, or as he puts it the party's latest money grab.

"It's a revenue grab for the government and it's at the expense of small businesses. Obviously they've got a large deficit and they're trying to find a way to grab some tax revenue and that's really all this is."

Many concerns have already been raised about these proposed changes and how they will affect small and family owned businesses. 

Among some of the changes proposed are taxing income made from business and placing stricter rules on family businesses which will make it tough for kids to inherit the company and possibly be double taxed.

Richards says it won't just be the small businesses affected but the community as a whole.

"Whether it be a sports team or a charitable initiative, where does the funding often comes for these things? Who's the sponsor of these things? It's our small business owners. If we're going to affect them and make it more difficult for them to survive, then we affected everything that goes on in our community."

Although Parliament has only been in session for four days, Richards says the issue has come up several times, with him personally addressing the matter in the House of Commons or the finance committee six times.

 

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