It’s time for Christy Clark and Stephen Harper to get serious about job creation. Below are 10 simple concrete proposals to get the people of this land working again.
• Abolish taxes on new small businesses during the first five years of their operations.
• Provide emergency loans and lines of credit with low interest rates to existing small businesses to help them expand if they have established themselves and have a high likelihood of repayment.
• Provide tax incentives to big business for every extra person they hire into a permanent, regular, position.
• The civil service should offer early retirement to older employees to free up jobs for younger employees, many of whom who have families to support.
• Employers should be encouraged to offer job sharing to double the amount of people working.
• The immigrant investor program should be expanded and include job creation provisions and not just the amount of money invested in the country.
• New immigrants should only be allowed to settle in parts of the country that have a need for workers until they become citizens. Canadians in parts of the country with high unemployment should not have to compete with new immigrants for jobs.
• Countries like China, India, Russia, and United States who want to buy Canada’s natural resources should be required to set up manufacturing and production plants in Canada and hire local workers if they want access to Canada’s natural resources.
• The government should introduce short six-month business entrepreneurship courses and support students with help with business idea exploration, high-tech opportunities, market research, business plan development, and start up funding. The students should also learn about social entrepreneurship, sustainable development, and the need for clean green business enterprises.
• The government can temporarily triple GST payments and make GST payments more often to inject money into the economy, stimulate demand, and create more jobs; not to mention help Canadians in financial need.
And if you can’t find a job, then go to school and upgrade your education, skills, and qualifications. It might be a good idea to take advantage of programs with practicum placement, co-op, and internships to gain valuable work experience.
Alex Sangha
Delta