By Cathy Allison
In a city where few secrets are kept, a national business lobby group says Ottawa has one that’s very well kept.
Garth Whyte, executive vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, says small and medium-sized businesses have kept the Ottawa economy strong despite the high-tech downturn.
“We’re so preoccupied with Nortel and JDS,” says Whyte, from his Ottawa office.
“As the big employers have been downsizing, our local economy is still growing and it’s because of the small and medium-sized enterprises right here.”
Whyte says small businesses don’t get enough attention from the City of Ottawa. Several Centretown business owners agree that support ranges from lukewarm to chilly.
Holly Layte opened the Marvellous Mustard Shop on Sparks Street two years ago. The small shop sells gourmet mustard and fancy preserves. Layte says the city put an extra burden on her business when inspection delays stretched the renovation period from three weeks to six months. The delay created such a financial strain, the business nearly folded before it opened.
“I don’t expect government to help us. But I don’t expect them to put barriers or hurdles in our way,” Layte says.
Margaret Lewis, owner of O’Shea’s Market Ireland on Sparks Street, has run import businesses for 28 years. She feels the city’s expensive parking rates keep potential shoppers away from the downtown core.
“We love being downtown because there’s a vitality here,” she says. “But we should make it so much easier for tourists. We should offer free parking on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.”
Lewis would also like to see a free shuttle bus service connecting the Sparks Street Mall with the Byward Market and Rideau Centre, similar to shuttle buses she’s seen in Dublin, Ireland.
Parking is a sore point for many business owners in Centretown. The city raised meter rates in April, from $1.50 per hour to $2 per hour. Drop a quarter in the slot and drivers get just eight minutes.
Parking is scarce on Somerset Street West near the So Good restaurant. Owner Peter So says a ticket on the windshield is the last straw for some patrons.
“A $25 ticket is not going to get people back for the $7.50 lunch special,” says So.
So says the no-smoking bylaw passed by the city has hurt businesses. Since he never allowed smoking in his restaurant, the bylaw didn’t impact his business.
“Bars and pubs are going under because Hull is just five minutes away,” So says.
Edgar Mitchell, chair of the Somerset Village Business Improvement Area, agrees. Mitchell also owns the Duke of Somerset pub, a business that has been in his family for 67 years. He says the city’s no-smoking bylaw is making it very difficult for his business to survive.
High property taxes are another concern for Mitchell. He says his heritage-building site is taxed by the city at three times the residential rate.
Gerry LePage, executive director of the Bank Street Business Improvement Area, says businesses bear the heaviest tax burden and don’t get a fair return on the hundreds of millions of tax dollars they bring in for the city.
LePage also agrees that there is a fixation on large high-tech corporations. “Small businesses have always been the net creator of jobs in the Canadian economy,” he says.
In June, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business sent a one-page survey to 450 mayors across Ontario with questions about property taxes and the impact of municipal policy on local businesses.
Ottawa Mayor Bob Chiarelli did not respond.
Whyte says about 150 Ontario mayors did return the survey, including 23 mayors from small towns neighbouring Ottawa. Chiarelli’s senior advisor, Alf Chaiton, says the mayor’s office does not routinely fill out questionnaires.
Says Chaiton in response to critics like Whyte: “You can’t really say on the one side that small to medium-sized business is being hard done by and at the same time say, ‘And they’re growing by leaps and bounds despite all the downturn in the large-company economy.’
“It really can’t be both.”