Survey shows poor performance by local government

Greater Sudbury business owners feel the municipal government could be doing a better job, according to a recent survey the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

The survey, which polled business owners in seven Ontario cities, took place between July 2009 and July 2010.

In Greater Sudbury, 95 businesses were polled. The results reflect negatively on the city's municipal government with all but one of the five questions.

Sixty-eight per cent of respondents in Greater Sudbury found the local government's overall awareness of the small business sector was poor. Only six per cent thought it was good, and 26 per cent adequate.

However, in Timmins, 77 per cent of the polled businesses rated their government's awareness of the small business sector poorly.

When it came to property taxes, 64 per cent of small businesses thought local government handled this issue poorly. Again, Timmins rated the worst, with 94 per cent of its small businesses saying taxes were poor.

In all seven surveyed cities, small businesses agreed the control of government wage levels was poor.

In Greater Sudbury, 82 per cent thought control was poor. Timmins failed its local government with a 98 per cent poor rating, followed closely by North Bay at 91 per cent.

Sixty-three per cent of respondents thought the value-for-money of public services was poor, though 30 per cent thought it was adequate and seven per cent believed it was good.

Timmins continued to lead the poor ratings with an 86 per cent poor rating, but Kenora came close behind with 81 per cent.

The only question that didn't earn a wholly poor rating was the fairness of bylaws and regulations.

In Greater Sudbury, the field was pretty evenly split, with 40 per cent saying the bylaws were adequately fair, and 44 per cent saying they were poor.

For more information about CFIB, visit www.cfib-fcei.ca.