Provincial budget is recipe for economic growth says restaurant industry

HALIFAX, April 3, 2012 /CNW/ - With today's budget, the Nova Scotia government continues to reduce its deficit while beginning to lower the high tax burden on Nova Scotians - an approach the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA) believes will create economic benefits for small business operators.

"The government deserves credit for making tough decisions to reduce its deficit and lower the tax burden in Nova Scotia," says Luc Erjavec, CRFA's Atlantic Canada Vice President. "Our members are relieved government has recognized that taxes in the province are too high, and has reduced the small business tax rate and set the stage to lower the HST - an unfair tax for restaurant owners and their customers. Government has clearly signalled it must reduce spending and tax rates if it wants to poise the province for economic activity and growth."

"We believe the government has a strong fiscal plan and has cooked up the right recipe at the right time," says Erjavec. "In the long run, businesses and residents of the province will benefit from this budget."

As Nova Scotia's fourth-largest private-sector employer, the restaurant industry directly employs nearly 30,000 people at more than 1,900 establishments. Twenty-two per cent of Canadians were first employed by the restaurant industry, making it the number one source of first jobs.

CRFA is one of Canada's largest business associations, with more than 30,000 members representing restaurants, bars, caterers, institutions and other foodservice providers. Canada's $63-billion foodservice industry employs more than one million people in communities across the country.

Luc Erjavec, 902-209-0804 (cell) or [email protected]; Prasanthi Vasanthakumar, Communications Specialist, 1-800-387-5649, ext. 4254 or [email protected]