Local governments not meeting Northern business needs: survey.

• Position: IN BRIEF

The municipalities of the North are struggling in their efforts to support local businesses, according to a survey released by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Conducted from July 2009 to June 2010, the survey asked regional businesses in six Northern areas to rate their local government on a series of business issues, using a scale of good / adequate / poor. The issues of "reasonable" property taxes and government wage levels turned up displeasure all around: the level of "poor" for the former ranged from 50 per cent to 94 per cent, while the latter ranged from 71 per cent "poor" to 98 per cent.

Timmins and Kenora, which also had the lowest number of respondents overall, fared the worst in these categories. In terms of overall awareness of the business sector, North Bay fared the best, with 16 per cent rating "good," and 46 per cent rating "adequate." Timmins rated the worst, at 89 per cent "poor." In the perceived fairness of bylaws...