Sask. businesses should see little impact from Liberal government: analyst

The business community is wondering what to expect under a new Liberal majority government, but one analyst says it likely won’t change much in Saskatchewan.
 
Business analyst Paul Martin joined the CJME Morning Show on Wednesday to talk about what kind of impact the new government might bring.
 
“I think generally speaking, it’s a non-event. What the business community really was looking for was some kind of stability, and I think that a majority government gives that,” he said.
 
Martin suggests the biggest potential impact to the Saskatchewan economy will likely hinge on the federal government’s decision to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) or not.
 
“We’re traders. We produce more than we consume so we have to export and that brings the TPP to the centre of the parade,” he said.
 
The day after the federal election, Premier Brad Wall immediately called on the new government to take swift action to approve the TPP.
 
The Liberals campaigned on a platform of corporate tax hikes and Martin says it will be interesting to see how those changes plays out. He points out that the majority of Saskatchewan-based companies are considered to be small businesses.
 
“Probably it will be business as usual for the bulk of the business community,” he said. “For a few of the larger players – and we don’t have a lot of larger players, but those that we do – they will obviously be caught in the same net that all the other companies in the country will be.”
 
Martin adds that small business owners won’t be happy with increases to payroll taxes. When those increases are combined with the current provincial increases to minimum wage, he says that may mean choosing to not hire more workers.