Patrick Meagher
Farmers Forum
I used to believe in the old adage that bigger was better, that with size comes economies of scale, greater efficiencies.
“Get big or get out,” farmers were told. I don’t believe that anymore.
Sure, when you are bigger you can find greater efficiencies, there’s an economy of scale. So, they don’t need the tax break, the government grant, a favourable regulation that squeezes the smaller guy.
Sometimes bigger means bloated and slow to serve. Try calling some banks, insurance companies, government departments. It’s not always the case but sometimes you can wait for hours just to leave a message. Or there’s a website with no name or phone number to call. Getting your money back can be even harder.
Sometimes big means special treatment. Government corporate welfare increased by 142% between 2019 and 2024, reaching $87.7 billion in 2024. That’s billions of dollars of free money to large companies. The Fraser Institute research has shown that all that money does little of nothing to improve the economy. This is incredibly unfair to small businesses.
Sometimes the freebies are completely unnecessary. Loblaws recorded more than $6 billion in profits over the past three years and still received a $12 million grant for energy-efficient refrigeration and later announced layoffs. Billions of dollars have been spent on building an EV battery plant for Volkswagen at St. Thomas, in Western Ontario, with no guarantee of Ontario jobs while the plant is only expected to operate for about 12 years.
Some companies are so big they have the nerve to tell our government that taxpayers must fund them. Automakers whined to the Canadian government in 2024 that they needed billions of dollars in subsidies to produce electric vehicles, even though they had already received $150 billion in free money. All that taxpayer money for a car most people can’t afford and most people don’t want. This is welfare for massively wealthy companies.
The mentality of appeasing those who already have so much and care so little for the community is a self-defeating one. It needs to stop.
Meantime, it’s getting harder for the little guy to get out of the starting gate. A 2023 survey conducted by the Business Development Bank of Canada estimated that Canada had 100,000 fewer entrepreneurs than 20 years earlier, despite the population increasing by more than 10 million over the same period. More than half of all new businesses don’t last 10 years. This wounds our resilience and our optimism.
The federal and provincial governments are too often supporting and encouraging the wrong people. Large businesses suck money out of our communities. Small businesses don’t. All levels of government need to support the locally-owned small businesses.
Even agricultural groups can be more helpful. The Chicken Farmers of Ontario has denied an Eastern Ontario farmer from expanding from 300 meat birds to 3,000 meat birds because the farmer doesn’t own the land. That doesn’t make sense. You have to be big to start small?
Local municipalities can be a part of the solution. They are the first-line of defence in stopping massive projects that don’t serve the communities they scar. They are often the first point of contact with a new small business that needs to know the local jurisdiction really is open for their business.
There is much that municipalities can do. Don’t sign non-disclosure agreements that turn massive public or private projects into big secrets hidden from the people who live there. Change the municipal hiring criteria and tax structure. Everyone working for the municipality should live in the municipality to ensure that they care about it. Increase incentives on all locally-owned businesses with employees who live in the local jurisdiction. Decrease their taxes and permit costs and give those businesses preference over businesses with out-of-jurisdiction ownership. There’s a new expression sweeping the U.S. that argues for America First. Canada should be Canada first, Ontario should be Ontario first and townships, locals first.
Locally-owned businesses are better when you can talk to the owner. You see him at church, in the grocery store parking lot, down at the hockey rink. He sees you too so it’s in his best interest to treat you well and his employees.
Local-level governments also need to stop listening to top-down propaganda projects that their constituents don’t believe in. Local governments shovel the propaganda because they are enticed by the money incentives that come with it. That’s short-sighted and divisive.
Running governments is not always about the money. What is more important are the people, their level of self-reliance, the community spirit.
Local governments need to refocus on helping every family-owned local business. These businesses need to be inspired in their dedication by being treated with more respect.
SOMETIMES BIGGER IS NOT BETTER: It might just mean bloated, slow to serve and living off an unfair gov’t program advantage
Patrick Meagher
Farmers Forum
I used to believe in the old adage that bigger was better, that with size comes economies of scale, greater efficiencies.
“Get big or get out,” farmers were told. I don’t believe that anymore.
Sure, when you are bigger you can find greater efficiencies, there’s an economy of scale. So, they don’t need the tax break, the government grant, a favourable regulation that squeezes the smaller guy.
Sometimes bigger means bloated and slow to serve. Try calling some banks, insurance companies, government departments. It’s not always the case but sometimes you can wait for hours just to leave a message. Or there’s a website with no name or phone number to call. Getting your money back can be even harder.
Sometimes big means special treatment. Government corporate welfare increased by 142% between 2019 and 2024, reaching $87.7 billion in 2024. That’s billions of dollars of free money to large companies. The Fraser Institute research has shown that all that money does little of nothing to improve the economy. This is incredibly unfair to small businesses.
Sometimes the freebies are completely unnecessary. Loblaws recorded more than $6 billion in profits over the past three years and still received a $12 million grant for energy-efficient refrigeration and later announced layoffs. Billions of dollars have been spent on building an EV battery plant for Volkswagen at St. Thomas, in Western Ontario, with no guarantee of Ontario jobs while the plant is only expected to operate for about 12 years.
Some companies are so big they have the nerve to tell our government that taxpayers must fund them. Automakers whined to the Canadian government in 2024 that they needed billions of dollars in subsidies to produce electric vehicles, even though they had already received $150 billion in free money. All that taxpayer money for a car most people can’t afford and most people don’t want. This is welfare for massively wealthy companies.
The mentality of appeasing those who already have so much and care so little for the community is a self-defeating one. It needs to stop.
Meantime, it’s getting harder for the little guy to get out of the starting gate. A 2023 survey conducted by the Business Development Bank of Canada estimated that Canada had 100,000 fewer entrepreneurs than 20 years earlier, despite the population increasing by more than 10 million over the same period. More than half of all new businesses don’t last 10 years. This wounds our resilience and our optimism.
The federal and provincial governments are too often supporting and encouraging the wrong people. Large businesses suck money out of our communities. Small businesses don’t. All levels of government need to support the locally-owned small businesses.
Even agricultural groups can be more helpful. The Chicken Farmers of Ontario has denied an Eastern Ontario farmer from expanding from 300 meat birds to 3,000 meat birds because the farmer doesn’t own the land. That doesn’t make sense. You have to be big to start small?
Local municipalities can be a part of the solution. They are the first-line of defence in stopping massive projects that don’t serve the communities they scar. They are often the first point of contact with a new small business that needs to know the local jurisdiction really is open for their business.
There is much that municipalities can do. Don’t sign non-disclosure agreements that turn massive public or private projects into big secrets hidden from the people who live there. Change the municipal hiring criteria and tax structure. Everyone working for the municipality should live in the municipality to ensure that they care about it. Increase incentives on all locally-owned businesses with employees who live in the local jurisdiction. Decrease their taxes and permit costs and give those businesses preference over businesses with out-of-jurisdiction ownership. There’s a new expression sweeping the U.S. that argues for America First. Canada should be Canada first, Ontario should be Ontario first and townships, locals first.
Locally-owned businesses are better when you can talk to the owner. You see him at church, in the grocery store parking lot, down at the hockey rink. He sees you too so it’s in his best interest to treat you well and his employees.
Local-level governments also need to stop listening to top-down propaganda projects that their constituents don’t believe in. Local governments shovel the propaganda because they are enticed by the money incentives that come with it. That’s short-sighted and divisive.
Running governments is not always about the money. What is more important are the people, their level of self-reliance, the community spirit.
Local governments need to refocus on helping every family-owned local business. These businesses need to be inspired in their dedication by being treated with more respect.