The CEO of the Sarnia-Lambton Chamber of Commerce is hoping to see an increased investment in local transportation.
Carrie McEachran's comments come ahead of the federal government's spring economic update, to be released on April 28.
"A big piece of what the Chamber is looking at right now and what we're advocating for is more passenger rail service," said McEachran. "One train out of Sarnia and one train in everyday just isn't working for local businesses or the community. So, we'd love to see some investment in that and some investment in the airport."
McEachran believes Sarnia-Lambton is missing out on opportunities that could arise if visitors had better access to the community.
"We are just in this beautiful spot here where we've got the water, the harbour, highway, train, airport. We have every means of transportation here," she said. "We're just this little hidden hub here in Ontario that no one is noticing. We have to get people noticing us here."
McEachran said US-imposed tariffs continue to be a concern.
"You're starting to see the impacts and I think you'll see it more," said McEachran. "We're already seeing more expensive products. A lot of the businesses I've talked to locally are trying to keep prices down for customers. Eventually, that will have to change."
McEachran notes the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) needs to stay in place.
It will go under review in July.
"Both sides of the border are saying to keep this going," she said. "Maybe there could be some tweaks to make it a bit better. If there are no tweaks, then we're good with just keeping the agreement. We don't want a redo, we don't want this gone, we just want to keep going."
The full interview with McEachran, on Episode 8 of the 'Sarnia-Lambton Beyond the Headlines' podcast, can be found here.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has some asks and wishes of its own.
In a news release, the CFIB said it wants the government to "to address Canada’s declining level of entrepreneurship and to invest in small businesses" by taking the following steps.
• Reducing the federal small business tax rate from 9% to 6% over the next three years.
• Increasing the small business deduction threshold from $500,000 to $700,000 and indexing it to inflation
• Introducing a lower EI premium rate for smaller employers.
• Supporting succession planning by expanding existing current rollover provisions.
• Incentivizing investment by expanding Immediate Expensing and the Accelerated Capital Cost Initiative to all capital investment and sectors to let business owners choose how best to use the deduction.
• Introducing a lower capital gains inclusion rate tax on a second tranche of gains beyond the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption (LCGE).
• Eliminating two requirements for every new one introduced to reduce the red tape burden.
