A group of local businessmen, Town Coun. Danny White and County Reeve Steve Upham met at MP Brian Storseth's office on Thursday to provide input into the federal budget.
Storseth visited other municipalities in the riding last week and will present a report from the meetings to Prime Minister Stephen Harper before the federal government tables the budget.
Concerns included cutting wasteful government spending, streamlining government departments and reforming the immigration system. Attendees agreed the federal government needs to make cuts to ensure the government does not go into a deficit.
Darryl Poirier, with Century 21 Real Estate, told the MP if deficits continue to rise the country could become like Europe. He recommended cutting funds to the CBC, or encouraging the CBC to raise more money itself.
Paul Guitard, owner of Canadian Tire in St. Paul, told Storseth he wants to see consumer confidence return. Regarding the budget, he said he would hate to see taxes raised, saying people are getting pinched enough as it is.
White said he would like to see changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program. He told the MP he understood around 80 per cent of earnings are sent to foreign workers' home countries. "They're not spending that money here. That has to be a concern."
"They're also keeping businessmen open that wouldn't otherwise be open," noted Storseth, calling the program a great screening process for potential immigrants. Many workers apply for and achieve permanent residency, he said.
Storseth said he would like the program to expand from two to three years, but added if people get in trouble with the law they should be deported. "You spend three years paying taxes, being a good citizen … I think we should give you permanent residency."
Advantages of encouraging workers to stay include increasing the tax base and helping the labour shortage, while risks include increased costs of social services if the economy goes down, attendees said.
AgriStability numbers are low and it may be a good time to come up with something that works, said Upham. "I think you've got to start thinking way outside the box and start looking at support for agriculture differently."
Western Canada has received 75 per cent of agri-relief money in the last four years, Storseth said.
White said he would like to see the budget include an increase in the Universal Child Care Benefit, which provides $100 a month per child under six.
Tyler Poirier noted the local RCMP detachment would benefit from more members.
Employers at the meeting expressed concern over potential increases to Employment Insurance rates.