Media Advisory - CFIB's Swift to comment on federal budget on behalf of small
business sector

TORONTO, March 3 /CNW/ - Catherine Swift, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), will be available for commentary on Parliament Hill in Ottawa immediately following tomorrow's federal budget (contact details below). Swift will be available to both French and English media. Other CFIB spokespeople will be responding from the organization's offices throughout the country.

On behalf of the over 105,000 small- and medium-sized businesses it represents across the country, CFIB will be looking for this year's federal budget to include the following:

    
    -   A detailed plan to eliminate the deficit
    -   Protection against the maximum allowable increase in Employment
        Insurance (EI) premiums expected in 2011
    -   Comprehensive action on reducing paper burden and regulations
    -   Adherence to current tax reduction plans
    

"We're really counting on the government putting forward a solid plan to pull us out of the federal deficit," said Swift, adding that "the most responsible and effective course of action would be a focus on reducing the size and cost of the federal bureaucracy." Swift also noted that once the temporary EI premium freeze ends later this year, employers and employees are expected to face a major tax hike which will negatively affect job creation as Canada comes out of recession.

For further information: please call Gisele Lumsden via cell at [phone]; In Toronto, please contact Adam Miller at [phone]; To view CFIB's pre-budget submission in full, please visit www.cfib.ca; On budget night, Catherine Swift can be reached by calling Gisele Lumsden at [phone] (cell)