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Off the Cluff: BC Chamber's Val Litwin on Budget 2019

How long can B.C.'s small businesses carry the burden of record government spending?

Earlier this month, NDP Finance Minister Carole James delivered the 2019-20 BC Budget, which contained few surprises.

While most of the big tax hikes came last year, there is record spending and more debt planned. And it’s B.C.’s job creators who are bearing a heavy load: the Employers’ Health Tax, an increasing carbon tax, a rising minimum wage, and climbing corporate tax rates are making it tougher than ever for small business.

Val Litwin is the president of the BC Chamber of Commerce and represents 36,000 such businesses. He joined Rick via Skype from his office in Vancouver.

Rick Cluff is an award-winning journalist who hosted the popular CBC Radio Vancouver morning program “The Early Edition” from 1997 until his retirement in April of 2018.

He has conducted more than 50,000 interviews and asked more than half a million questions, of prime ministers, premiers, presidents and some of the world’s biggest sports and entertainment personalities.