For Submission
Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Small Business Month

During the month of October we salute the thousands of hardworking small business owners throughout Ontario who contribute to the employment and economic status of our province.

In Ontario, there are over 340,000 small business operations contributing to the economy and providing jobs for an incredible amount of Ontarians.

Small business is the economic engine in Ontario, with over 98 percent of employees in small communities throughout the province employed by those businesses.

I agree with a recent statement, which said, “Kawartha Lakes is Small Business,” and especially need to recognize the City of Kawartha Lakes for their recent events, seminars and trade shows for small business owners during Small Business Week from October 16th – 20th.

In Kawartha Lakes alone, there are approximately 2,400 enterprises, with nearly 2,300 of those being referred to as small or medium sized businesses.

There are many industries that comprise this number, most falling within the Agricultural industry, which is the third largest agricultural employer in the province. Over 9,600 full time and over 5,800 part time employees are working in farms or agricultural business in Kawartha Lakes.

I would also like to recognize the tremendous work of the local District Chambers of Commerce. They are a shining example of what commitment and service to local business means.

As the MPP for Haliburton-Victoria-Brock, I’m very pleased to be part of some exciting initiatives that will help pave the way for small business to build and grow.

In April of 2004, we undertook an initiative with a number of small businesses in the riding who had a need to properly certify their employee technical standards in the field of gas, oil, heating and air-conditioning.

Small business owners were finding it a tough financial burden to have their employees repeatedly return to trade schools in order to up-date their certifications. In many cases, the employee simply had to bear the cost.

By working together with local small business owners, we were able to bring a forward-thinking solution to address this issue, and introduced an act to amend apprenticeships and certifications. I’m pleased to say this Bill has become law.

We are also pushing very hard for the four lane expansion of Highway 35, which is huge for our local businesses and economic development.

I’m also excited to be working with a number of community people on bringing Broadband Cable and access to High Speed Internet to our area.

We have worked hard, and continue to press the government for support on this initiative, which will provide another avenue for our small business enterprises to grow and better serve their clients.

It’s not an overstatement to suggest that Small Business is the backbone of Haliburton-Victoria-Brock. Small business is the economic engine driving our riding, and the rest of Ontario.

So this month, I salute all hardworking small business owners– for your commitment to your employees and for driving that economic engine.

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