COALITION OF NEW BRUNSWICK EMPLOYERS                

March 19, 2020
 

Minister Mary Wilson, Minister of Economic Development & Small Business
 

Re: New Brunswick Tax and Fee Relief
 

Minister Wilson:
 

This e-mail is further to our telephone conversation held this morning.
 

Thank you for the candid conversation regarding the further measures required specific to tax and fee relief that we are asking The Province of New Brunswick enact as soon as possible.
 

As you are very aware, The Coalition of New Brunswick Employers represents now 31 various industry associations in the province (updated list attached).
 

Collectively the companies represented by the business associations in the Coalition of New Brunswick Employers employ nearly two-thirds of the province’s entire private-sector workforce and pay hundreds of millions of dollars in wages, benefits and taxes annually.
 

Our Coalition has been working collaboratively with a wide variety of partners and stakeholders to understand the best way through the crisis that we see our world in currently.
 

While the federal government is leading the response in many ways, clearly provinces have a strong role to play in supporting businesses and their workers. We need everyone pushing for the same types of responses from government that are consistent with what our members are asking for. Many of the federal recommendations can actually be mirrored and/or supported at the provincial level.
 

As a direct result, the following are specific provincial actions that we urge your government to implement:
 

• holiday from all payroll taxes for at least 60 days – specifically this would include workers compensation.
• defer all other taxes and fees until revenue streams improve – specifically this would include property taxes.
• freeze all payments to government entities including regulated utilities without penalties or interest.
• apply a minimum three-month deferral on all business loan payments and related interest charges due to the government, as of April 1, 2020. ACOA has already implemented this as have other provincial governments.

These flexible business continuity actions by the Government of New Brunswick would help provide businesses of all sizes with options to keep cash flow going in order to keep people working and supporting the supply chain of vendors across New Brunswick.
 

I can be contacted at any time to future discuss these extremely important measures.
 

Thank you once again.

Regards,

Ron Marcolin

Chair

Coalition of New Brunswick Employers