Federal NDP Leader Tom Mulcair made a whistle stop in Victoria yesterday promoting middle-class jobs and vowing to help small businesses.
Victoria MP Murray Rankin said small business remains important to Victoria.
“Eighty per cent of our job creators are small business,” he said.
Rankin said keeping small businesses in Victoria is difficult and they need help.
“A lot of these store fronts [on Fort Street] are now empty, people are needing help.”
Mulcair’s focus was on eliminating credit card fees small businesses face. Small businesses pay a “merchant discount fee” that ranges from 1.5 per cent to three per cent. The fee covers things such as terminal rentals, fraud protection and transaction slips.
Another issue Rankin raised affecting current small business owners is the small business tax rate. Currently set at 11 per cent, the NDP hopes it can reduce that to nine per cent.
“It’s very much a Victoria issue, it’s all about making things a little bit easier.”