Q. We run a courier service delivering time-sensitive documents around the Twin Cities by bicycle. Recently, an employee broke her leg while skiing. Now she is unable to perform her job as bicycle courier. Do we have to put her in a different job while her leg is in a cast?
A. Although your employee is impaired in her ability to deliver documents by bicycle, she is not likely to be disabled under the ADA. To qualify as a disability, an impairment must be more than a minor or transitory impairment (i.e., lasting more than six months). Here, your employee is not likely to be disabled if her broken leg will heal in less than six months.
Because she is not disabled, you do not need to accommodate her injury. Even if you were obligated to provide reasonable accommodations, disregarding the essential functions of her job and putting her in a new job is not likely to be considered a reasonable accommodation that you would be obligated to provide.
Although she may not have protections under disability discrimination laws, if you are an FMLA employer and she is a qualified employee, she may be entitled to up 12 weeks of leave from work to recover from her injury. If she is able to return to her job after her FMLA leave entitlement expires, you would be obligated to reinstate her to her previous position following the leave.
Like what you've read? ...Republish it and share great business tips!
Attention: Readers, Publishers, Editors, Bloggers, Media, Webmasters and more...
We believe great content should be read and passed around. After all, knowledge IS power. And good business can become great with the right information at their fingertips. If you'd like to share any of the insightful articles on BusinessManagementDaily.com, you may republish or syndicate it without charge.
The only thing we ask is that you keep the article exactly as it was written and formatted. You also need to include an attribution statement and link to the article.
" This information is proudly provided by Business Management Daily.com: http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/34616/must-we-accommodate-a-bike-courier-who-can-no-longer-ride-a-bike "
Just what makes that little old ant change a flower's nectar content?Public release date: 24-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Richard Hund rhund@botany.org 314-577-9557 American Journal of Botany
Ants foraging on nectar transmit yeasts that change sugar-chemistry and may affect subsequent pollinator visitations and plant fitness
Ants play a variety of important roles in many ecosystems. As frequent visitors to flowers, they can benefit plants in their role as pollinators when they forage on sugar-rich nectar. However, a new study reveals that this mutualistic relationship may actually have some hidden costs. By transmitting sugar-eating yeasts to the nectar on which they feed, ants may be indirectly altering the nectar-chemistry and thus affecting subsequent pollinator visitations.
Many species of plants benefit from interacting with ants, and some even secrete special sugary substances to attract ants. Plants produce sugar, in the form of nectar, and in exchange ants provide services such as pollination or protection from herbivores.
The main components of nectar that attract pollinators include three dominant sugarssucrose, fructose, and glucoseand amino acids (or proteins). The chemical composition of nectar differs among plant species and has been thought to be a conservative trait linked to pollinator type. For example, plants pollinated by hummingbirds tend to have nectar with high amounts of sucrose. In addition, nectar composition is thought to be regulated by the plant.
"When people think about how flowers are pollinated, they probably think about bees," notes Clara de Vega, a postdoctoral researcher at the Estacin Biolgica de Doana, Spain. "But ants also pollinate flowers, and I am interested in the role ants play in pollination since it is still poorly understood."
De Vega joined forces with Carlos M. Herrera, an evolutionary ecologist at the Estacin Biolgica de Doana, to investigate the relationship between ant pollinators and nectarivorous yeasts. Nectar-dwelling yeasts, which consume sugars, have recently been discovered in the flowers of many temperate and tropical plant species. De Vega and Herrera have already discovered that some ant species not only carry certain types of sugar-metabolizing yeasts on their bodies, but they also effectively transmit these yeasts to the nectar of flowers they visit.
In their most recent work, published in the American Journal of Botany (http://www.amjbot.org/content/100/4/792.full.pdf+html), De Vega and Herrera investigated whether flowers visited by these ants differed from flowers that were not visited by ants in their sugar chemistry, and whether sugar-chemistry was correlated with the abundance of ant-transmitted yeasts found in the nectar.
By excluding ants from visiting inflorescences of a perennial, parasitic plant, Cytinus hypocistis, and comparing the nectar chemistry to inflorescences that were visited by ants, the authors tested these ideas experimentally.
When the authors compared the sugar content in the nectar of flowers visited by ants versus those enclosed in nylon mesh bags to exclude ants, they found that nectar of flowers exposed to ants had higher levels of fructose and glucose, but lower levels of sucrose compared with the ant-excluded flowers.
Interestingly, in flowers visited by ants, there was a high correlation between yeast cell density and sugar content. Nectar that had higher densities of yeast had more fructose and less sucrose, suggesting that the types of yeasts change the sugar content of the nectar. Flowers that were excluded from ants did not have any yeast in their nectar.
"Our study has revealed that ants can actually change the nectar characteristics of the flowers they are pollinating," says de Vega. "The microorganisms, specifically yeasts, that are present on the surface of ants change the composition of sugar in the flowers nectar."
"This means that nectar composition is not completely controlled by the flowerit is something created in cooperation with the ants that visit the flower," she notes. "We also think that these ant-transported yeasts might have the potential to affect plant reproduction."
Indeed, if a plant cannot control the sugar content of its nectar, then it may lose some of its target pollinators, which would potentially affect overall seed set and plant fitness.
Moreover, if introducing these yeasts to nectar changes the chemistry of the very components that serve to attract pollinators, then perhaps ants are indirectly changing the foraging behavior of subsequent flower visitors and thereby affecting seed dispersal patterns.
This study has revealed an additional layer in the complex association between ants and flowering plants, as pollinating ants alter sugar-nectar chemistry in flowers via sugar-consuming yeasts. But the story does not end here. De Vega plans to continue researching the role that these nectarivorous yeasts play on the reproduction of plants.
"I plan to study the whole interaction of plants, yeasts, and pollinatorshow are they interrelated and what mechanisms shape these relations?"
###
Clara de Vega and Carlos M. Herrera. 2013. Microorganisms transported by ants induce changes in floral nectar composition of an ant-pollinated plant. American Journal of Botany 100(4): 792-800. DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1200626
The full article in the link mentioned is available for no charge for 30 days following the date of this summary at http://www.amjbot.org/content/100/4/792.full.pdf+html. After this date, reporters may contact Richard Hund at ajb@botany.org for a copy of the article.
The Botanical Society of America (http://www.botany.org) is a non-profit membership society with a mission to promote botany, the field of basic science dealing with the study and inquiry into the form, function, development, diversity, reproduction, evolution, and uses of plants and their interactions within the biosphere. It has published the American Journal of Botany (http://www.amjbot.org) for nearly 100 years. In 2009, the Special Libraries Association named the American Journal of Botany one of the Top 10 Most Influential Journals of the Century in the field of Biology and Medicine.
For further information, please contact the AJB staff at ajb@botany.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Just what makes that little old ant change a flower's nectar content?Public release date: 24-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Richard Hund rhund@botany.org 314-577-9557 American Journal of Botany
Ants foraging on nectar transmit yeasts that change sugar-chemistry and may affect subsequent pollinator visitations and plant fitness
Ants play a variety of important roles in many ecosystems. As frequent visitors to flowers, they can benefit plants in their role as pollinators when they forage on sugar-rich nectar. However, a new study reveals that this mutualistic relationship may actually have some hidden costs. By transmitting sugar-eating yeasts to the nectar on which they feed, ants may be indirectly altering the nectar-chemistry and thus affecting subsequent pollinator visitations.
Many species of plants benefit from interacting with ants, and some even secrete special sugary substances to attract ants. Plants produce sugar, in the form of nectar, and in exchange ants provide services such as pollination or protection from herbivores.
The main components of nectar that attract pollinators include three dominant sugarssucrose, fructose, and glucoseand amino acids (or proteins). The chemical composition of nectar differs among plant species and has been thought to be a conservative trait linked to pollinator type. For example, plants pollinated by hummingbirds tend to have nectar with high amounts of sucrose. In addition, nectar composition is thought to be regulated by the plant.
"When people think about how flowers are pollinated, they probably think about bees," notes Clara de Vega, a postdoctoral researcher at the Estacin Biolgica de Doana, Spain. "But ants also pollinate flowers, and I am interested in the role ants play in pollination since it is still poorly understood."
De Vega joined forces with Carlos M. Herrera, an evolutionary ecologist at the Estacin Biolgica de Doana, to investigate the relationship between ant pollinators and nectarivorous yeasts. Nectar-dwelling yeasts, which consume sugars, have recently been discovered in the flowers of many temperate and tropical plant species. De Vega and Herrera have already discovered that some ant species not only carry certain types of sugar-metabolizing yeasts on their bodies, but they also effectively transmit these yeasts to the nectar of flowers they visit.
In their most recent work, published in the American Journal of Botany (http://www.amjbot.org/content/100/4/792.full.pdf+html), De Vega and Herrera investigated whether flowers visited by these ants differed from flowers that were not visited by ants in their sugar chemistry, and whether sugar-chemistry was correlated with the abundance of ant-transmitted yeasts found in the nectar.
By excluding ants from visiting inflorescences of a perennial, parasitic plant, Cytinus hypocistis, and comparing the nectar chemistry to inflorescences that were visited by ants, the authors tested these ideas experimentally.
When the authors compared the sugar content in the nectar of flowers visited by ants versus those enclosed in nylon mesh bags to exclude ants, they found that nectar of flowers exposed to ants had higher levels of fructose and glucose, but lower levels of sucrose compared with the ant-excluded flowers.
Interestingly, in flowers visited by ants, there was a high correlation between yeast cell density and sugar content. Nectar that had higher densities of yeast had more fructose and less sucrose, suggesting that the types of yeasts change the sugar content of the nectar. Flowers that were excluded from ants did not have any yeast in their nectar.
"Our study has revealed that ants can actually change the nectar characteristics of the flowers they are pollinating," says de Vega. "The microorganisms, specifically yeasts, that are present on the surface of ants change the composition of sugar in the flowers nectar."
"This means that nectar composition is not completely controlled by the flowerit is something created in cooperation with the ants that visit the flower," she notes. "We also think that these ant-transported yeasts might have the potential to affect plant reproduction."
Indeed, if a plant cannot control the sugar content of its nectar, then it may lose some of its target pollinators, which would potentially affect overall seed set and plant fitness.
Moreover, if introducing these yeasts to nectar changes the chemistry of the very components that serve to attract pollinators, then perhaps ants are indirectly changing the foraging behavior of subsequent flower visitors and thereby affecting seed dispersal patterns.
This study has revealed an additional layer in the complex association between ants and flowering plants, as pollinating ants alter sugar-nectar chemistry in flowers via sugar-consuming yeasts. But the story does not end here. De Vega plans to continue researching the role that these nectarivorous yeasts play on the reproduction of plants.
"I plan to study the whole interaction of plants, yeasts, and pollinatorshow are they interrelated and what mechanisms shape these relations?"
###
Clara de Vega and Carlos M. Herrera. 2013. Microorganisms transported by ants induce changes in floral nectar composition of an ant-pollinated plant. American Journal of Botany 100(4): 792-800. DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1200626
The full article in the link mentioned is available for no charge for 30 days following the date of this summary at http://www.amjbot.org/content/100/4/792.full.pdf+html. After this date, reporters may contact Richard Hund at ajb@botany.org for a copy of the article.
The Botanical Society of America (http://www.botany.org) is a non-profit membership society with a mission to promote botany, the field of basic science dealing with the study and inquiry into the form, function, development, diversity, reproduction, evolution, and uses of plants and their interactions within the biosphere. It has published the American Journal of Botany (http://www.amjbot.org) for nearly 100 years. In 2009, the Special Libraries Association named the American Journal of Botany one of the Top 10 Most Influential Journals of the Century in the field of Biology and Medicine.
For further information, please contact the AJB staff at ajb@botany.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Authorities search a storage unit at Gibson Self Storage as they continue to investigate the slayings of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife and a top prosecutor, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2013 in Seagoville, Texas. Authorities investigating the death of a Texas district attorney arrested Eric Williams, a former justice of the peace and charged him Saturday with making a "terroristic threat" after searching his home. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Michael Ainsworth) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET USE BY AP MEMBERS ONLY; NO SALES
Authorities search a storage unit at Gibson Self Storage as they continue to investigate the slayings of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife and a top prosecutor, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2013 in Seagoville, Texas. Authorities investigating the death of a Texas district attorney arrested Eric Williams, a former justice of the peace and charged him Saturday with making a "terroristic threat" after searching his home. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Michael Ainsworth) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET USE BY AP MEMBERS ONLY; NO SALES
File - In this April 15, 2013 file photo, the home of Eric Lyle Williams is shown in Kaufman, Texas. Texas authorities have arrested the former justice of the peace's wife, Kim Lene Williams. Online jail records do not list charges against her and officials in Kaufman County wouldn't immediately comment on the reason for her arrest. A law enforcement official has said authorities are trying to build a case against Eric Lyle Williams in the deaths of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
File - This photo provided by the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office shows Eric Williams. Texas authorities have arrested the former justice of the peace's wife, Kim Lene Williams. Online jail records do not list charges against her and officials in Kaufman County wouldn't immediately comment on the reason for her arrest. A law enforcement official has said authorities are trying to build a case against Eric Lyle Williams in the deaths of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia. (AP Photo/Kaufman County Sheriff's Office, File)
File - In this April 15, 2013 file photo, a printed sign on the door of the home of Eric Lyle Williams directs media to a spokesperson for the Williams family in Kaufman, Texas. Texas authorities have arrested the former justice of the peace's wife, Kim Lene Williams. Online jail records do not list charges against her and officials in Kaufman County wouldn't immediately comment on the reason for her arrest. A law enforcement official has said authorities are trying to build a case against Eric Lyle Williams in the deaths of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
KAUFMAN, Texas (AP) ? Authorities say the wife of a former judge has confessed to being involved in the shooting deaths of a North Texas district attorney, his wife and an assistant prosecutor.
Kim Lene Williams was arrested early Wednesday. Kaufman County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Justin Lewis says Williams is being charged in all three deaths. Lewis says she is being held on $10 million bond.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Williams told investigators Tuesday that she was involved in the shootings of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife, Cynthia, and one of his prosecutors, Mark Hasse.
The investigation has also focused on her husband, Eric Williams, whom McLelland and Hasse successfully prosecuted for theft.
The McLellands were found dead March 30, two months after Hasse was slain.
10 years ago, the American empiric misadventure in Iraq began. The National Security Archive at George Washington University has compiled the key intelligence and military documents that mis(led) the country's political leadership to war. Human beings brought to the process willful blindness, deliberate lies to obscure a strategic goal and sincere convictions. They used powerpoints and memos with codewords to reassure each other that their decisions were correct.?
In late November of 2001, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visited the headquarters of U.S. Central Command to see the progress made on revising OPLAN 1003-98, which was the DoD's regime change operational plan for Iraq. "98" refers to 1998, when it had last been reviewed and finalized. A Rumsfeld memo includes three potential avenues to war; it would be triggered by the discovery of WMD, by Iraq's suddenly proven connections to Al Qaeda or a sudden invasion of Kurds. ?
SEE MORE: Why would Assad use chemical weapons?
Then, on July 23, 2002, notes from a meeting with the Prime Minister of the U.K., defense secretary, chief of the defense staff, head of MI-6 and others, where the planning for war was much advanced and that "intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy." (What John Scarlett, the SIS head who uttered these words, actually meant, has been debated. He says it meant that Washington was narrow-minded and suffered from a sort of confirmation bias, not that deliberate falsehoods were being created.)
The intelligence community was not unanimous that Iraq had reconstituted a WMD program or that the evidence for such a reconstitution was mounting. The State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research dissented in two fundamental ways in a 2002 National Intelligence Estimate.? INR noted that special tools that could help create nuclear weapon components were indeed being produced, but that they had been produced well before Iraq was thought to have started its program and that the tools "clearly" were intended for other, conventional uses. The NIE also contains a "report" that Iraq sought uranium from African sources -- later proven untrue and the source of the Valerie Plame outing.
SEE MORE: Rejoice! Google to add a GIF search filter
Here, a planning document suggests that a maximum of 5,000 U.S. troops would be on the ground a few years after the invasion.?
Finally, the list of "horribles" that Rumsfeld drew up in October of 2002 listing what could go wrong. His last sentence: "It is possible of course to prepare an illustrative list of all the potential problems that need to be considered if there is no regime change in Iraq."
SEE MORE: Double takes: 9 curious images of two-headed animals
View this article on TheWeek.com Get 4 Free Issues of The Week
Other stories from this section:
Like on Facebook?-?Follow on Twitter?-?Sign-up for Daily Newsletter
Happiness interview: Christine Koh and Asha Dornfest.
Two friends of mine have just come out with a terrific book, Minimalist Parenting: Enjoy Modern Family Life More by Doing Less. It?s particularly thrilling for me to hold this book in my hands, because I remember talking to them about it when it was still just the beginning of an idea they were playing with. And here it is, out in the world.
It?s a great guide for anyone who wants to have a happy home life, by keeping things simple, calm, and in tune with family values.
Asha is the force behind the terrific site Parent Hacks ? ?forehead-smackingly smart tips that help you simplify family life, save money, and have fun.? Christine is the founder and editor of Boston Mamas ? ?a lifestyle portal for families in Boston and beyond.?
I wanted to ask them both about their thoughts on happiness.
Gretchen: What?s a simple activity that consistently makes you happier?
Christine: Running or some kind of physical activity. I mean, sometimes it?s hard to get out there (I don?t do the ?dreadmill? so I?ve run in temperatures as low as 8 degrees this winter?eep!) and sometimes I drag a little when I?m out there, but I always feel happy when I?m done. Also, sleeping. Man, do I love sleeping.
Asha: Walking my dog always makes me happy. The combo of fresh air, seasonal change, dog antics and snippets of neighborhood conversation never fails to cheer me up. In the department of ?not thrilled while doing it, but extremely happy with results,? processing the mail and paperwork on my desk. I dread it, and the pile of paper makes me anxious while it?s sitting there, but when I?m done I feel this rush of creative energy. Sometimes I find an uncashed check in the pile!
What?s something you know now about happiness that you didn?t know when you were 18 years old?
Asha: That happiness is more a mindset choice than a response to specific events. Yes, I?m happy when good things happen, but I also know that, when I?m in a ?life dip? and am naturally feeling down, that I won?t be there forever.
Is there anything you find yourself doing repeatedly that gets in the way of your happiness?
Christine: I have a tendency to devote too much bandwidth to the (bad or questionable, in my opinion) behavior of other people. The best advice I ever got from my therapist was that you can?t control other people?s behavior, only how you react to the behavior. Repeating that mantra has helped me enormously time and time again; I now can let go of things more quickly.
Asha: Staying up too late (it torpedoes my patience!), and procrastinating about mundane household jobs.
If you?re feeling blue, how do you give yourself a happiness boost??
Christine: Doing something with my hands, such as crafting or baking. In January I set intentions to do more hands-on creative projects and spend more one on one time with my 8-year-old Laurel (who often gets the short end of the attention stick these days because of her sometimes demanding toddler sister Violet). I decided to block out Thursdays afternoons while Violet is in day care to be Thursdays with Laurel (I literally put it in my calendar as a recurring event so I wouldn?t schedule work things in that window). Because Laurel loves art projects, we end up crafting a lot. It is the ultimate happiness boost to shut off the computer and craft and chat with Laurel on Thursday afternoons.
Asha: Curling up with my family and watching favorite movies. The Lord of the Rings series (extended edition, plus all the extras) has a particular tonic effect!
Have you always felt about the same level of happiness, or have you been through a period when you felt exceptionally happy or unhappy ? if so, why? If you were unhappy, how did you become happier?
Christine: I am, without a doubt, the happiest I?ve ever been right now. In general, I?m a very cheerful person but my childhood was challenging and at times very stressful. And then just as I was leaving home for college, I became involved in an emotionally abusive relationship that unfortunately persisted for several years. I also spent 10 years in an academic career that I ultimately found myself very unhappy in. But now?my husband Jon is a gem ? he?s unconditionally supportive and loving and hechallenges me to process my history, which is necessary to move forward. And I?ve been calling the shots on my professional work ever since I left academia in 2006. And I have two wonderful, healthy kids. And friends + family + fantastic burritos and pastries in striking distance + so many good things. I feel so blessed.
Asha: My childhood and early adult years were amazingly happy. Looking back, I think it was partially a result my temperament (I?ve been called obnoxiously optimistic) and partially because those years were relatively stress-free. I sometimes think I grew up when I became a mother, because with that experience came both overwhelming joys and challenges. The early years of motherhood were some of the hardest of my life, and YET they have left me with a sense of confidence and humility and gratitude that has directly contributed to where I am now. I can honestly say I?ve never been happier or more thankful. And now I?m craving a burrito.
Is there some aspect of your home that makes you particularly happy?
Christine: My happiest place in my house right now is my bed. I?m not even kidding. And this is a recent development because finally, after dragging my heels for over a decade,I finally replaced our tired old bedding and bought a beautiful quilt + shams that I love. After a childhood of tight finances and then spending so many years as an academic indentured servant, sometimes I resist spending money on certain things, particularly if they don?t seem absolutely essential (as in, who else is going to see my tired old bedding?) and even if they?re not particularly expensive. Jon was the one who finally said, ?You deserve to sleep under a bedspread that makes you happy. Don?t just look at the Target sale section; pick something you love first and then we can look at the price tag.? Just another reason I love that man.
Asha: The gas ?log? in our living room fireplace. It doesn?t matter that it?s essentially a fake fire, with fake wood and fake ?glowing coals.? Sitting there, watching it flicker and feeling its warmth, while listening to music and doing my work or hanging out with Rael and the kids?it?s heavenly.
Have you ever been surprised that something you expected would make you very happy, didn?t ? or vice versa?
Asha: It?s ironic ? the things that have made me the most happy started out as challenges I wasn?t sure I could handle at the time.
Anything else you would like to say?
Christine: My gratitude. To you for your friendship and inspiration. To your readers for being committed towards being happier, reading this interview, and opening their minds to change. I hope your readers will consider?Minimalist Parenting ? it was such a joy to write this book with Asha and we truly hope it helps people create degrees of freedom in their life.
Asha: I would just add that there are so many ?right? ways to parent and find happiness. What I love most about your happiness discoveries is your first commandment: to Be Gretchen. The first step toward minimalist parenting (and happiness) is to know ? and be ? your true self.
Gretchen: Awww, thanks you two! Congratulations again.
OTTAWA ? It?s a $60-billion venture for the federal Conservative government.
That?s the estimated amount of tax relief Prime Minister Stephen Harper?s government has offered up to businesses in Canada since taking power in 2006 ? reducing the country?s corporate tax rates to some of the lowest in the world.
The government maintains the widespread corporate tax relief has been an answer for the sluggish Canadian economy ? spurring investment and job creation, while putting tax dollars back into the pockets of business owners, taxpayers and shareholders.
But with a federal budget coming soon, the $60-billion in business tax breaks are also sparking questions and criticism for a government trying to rein in a deficit estimated at $26-billion and balance the books within two years.
?They?ve reduced (corporate) taxes but there has been really not adequate major investment in capital expenditures or job creation,? argues NDP finance critic Peggy Nash.
?We haven?t got much bang for the buck.?
We haven?t got much bang for the buck
The federal government points to the creation of more than 900,000 net new jobs since the end of the recession in July 2009 as evidence its tax policies are promoting economic growth.
However, small businesses across Canada are still feeling the tax pinch and hoping for some additional relief, or at least that their situation doesn?t worsen.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which represents approximately 109,000 small business owners, wants the federal government to consider lowering the small business tax rate, which is currently 11%.
The general corporate tax rate has been reduced from about 22% (including a now-eliminated surtax) to 15% over the past six years, but the small business rate has only dropped one percentage point in that time.
?There is a little bit of a growing degree of impatience for the government to get back to some broader tax measures for smaller firms,? says CFIB president Dan Kelly.
?What we?re hearing from members is that they are anxious for the federal government to, once we pull out of deficit, to look at some tax reductions to the small business rate itself.?
The Finance Department estimates the cost of a one-percentage-point reduction in the general corporate income tax rate would be roughly $1.8-billion in 2013 (based on most recent fiscal projections).
Reducing the small business rate by one percentage point would cost the government approximately $700-million in revenue.
The Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, meanwhile, estimates that increasing the general corporate income tax rate by one point would generate an extra $1.3-billion annually for federal coffers, and boosting the small business rate by one point would produce $770-million more.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was unavailable for an interview.
But generally, the government argues that lower tax rates increase domestic economic activity, attract investment to Canada and result in less tax evasion, ultimately broadening the tax base and reducing the amount of lost revenue that goes with lowering tax rates.
Repeated studies, including from the 34-country Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, have argued that corporate income taxes are the most harmful for growth for many reasons, including because they discourage investment in capital and productivity.
However, the OECD has also warned that lowering the corporate tax rate substantially below the top personal income tax rate ? such as in Canada ? can ?jeopardize the integrity of the tax system as high-income individuals will attempt to shelter their savings within corporations.?
The extent to which governments increase or decrease corporate taxes can jeopardize their political success, too, not just their revenue stream.
For the 2012-13 budget year ending in March, the federal government expects to collect nearly $164-billion in income tax, with approximately $33-billion of that total from corporate income tax revenues.
However, the federal government?s corporate income tax share of revenues has slowly decreased since the Conservatives came to power ? albeit amid an economic downturn and continued sluggishness ? while the share of revenue from personal income tax has increased.
The key political and policy question is: do Canadian companies pay their fair share in corporate income tax?
Data from the OECD indicate that Canada?s taxes on corporate income are competitive and also comparable to other countries.
In 2010 (the most recent data available), taxes on corporate income in Canada were 3.3% of GDP, slightly above the OECD average of 2.9%.
That same year, taxes on corporate income in Canada amounted to 10.7% of total taxation, compared to the OECD average of 8.6%.
A recent global tax study from PwC, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation found Canada?s business tax rates are among the lowest in the world. Canada is the best country among G8 nations in which to pay business taxes and ranked eighth among 185 economies in the study. The United States ranked 69th.
For smaller firms, the Conservative government pegged the small business tax rate at 11% and increased the income limit for the small business rate to $500,000 from $300,000.
But businesses are also urging the Tory government not to proceed with any enrichment to the Canada Pension Plan, something now being reconsidered by Ottawa and the provinces.
Boosting CPP benefits would require increasing premiums paid by Canadians, with employers and workers each paying half of the contributions.
Business owners say any additional CPP contributions would effectively amount to a new payroll tax, something the CFIB says is ?the most harmful form of taxation for small business.?
While small business owners welcome the federal hiring credit to partially offset unwelcome increases in employment insurance premiums, the CFIB says the government has muddied the tax system with too many tax credits.
Canadians and business owners would be better off with simple broad-based tax relief that features lower rates and fewer credits, says Kelly, the CFIB president.
?Governments, not just the federal government, have been a little credit happy. The reason they offer them is that they?re low cost, they?re ?announceable,?? Kelly says.
The NDP has assailed the government for offering multibillion-dollar tax cuts to large corporations, including specialty tax credits or subsidies for the oil and gas sector (some of which are being phased out).
The official Opposition, in its 2011 election platform, called for the corporate tax rate to be increased to 19.5% ? where it was five years ago ? from the current 15%, a move it said would generate an extra $9-billion or so annually in revenue.
At the same time, the NDP is also calling for tax relief for smaller firms, promising to reduce the small business tax rate to nine per cent from the current 11%, in hopes of spurring the economy.
?This ongoing, multiyear sluggishness in our economy is starting to really concern people,? says the NDP?s Nash.
Yet, the Conservatives are facing mounting calls from the business sector to retool corporate tax rates and other rules facing Canadian companies.
Chambers of commerce across the country ? along with the House of Commons finance committee ? want the government to review tax provisions (including on capital gains) for estate and succession planning.
The current tax rules, in many cases, can make it more financially beneficial to transfer a family-owned business to a third party instead of a loved one.
Also, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce says the tax system over-relies on income and profit taxes, which it says are ?the most economically damaging forms of taxation.?
It recommends shifting the tax mix toward consumption-based taxes such as the GST or HST to help stimulate productivity and economic growth.
As debate continues over whether the federal government?s $60-billion in tax breaks for businesses have been prudent and effective, some argue average taxpayers will be stuck with the bill either way. Ian Lee, a former banker and now assistant professor at Carleton University?s Sprott School of Business in Ottawa, says the taxes paid by corporations eventually trickle down through the company and onto consumers.
Higher corporate taxes make it more difficult for firms to hire employees and offer wage increases, and also lead to consumers simply paying more for products, he argues.
?Corporations, ultimately, eventually don?t pay the taxes. They pass them on through the prices of the goods and services,? Lee says.
?There?s only one taxpayer in Canada and there?s only one consumer. All bills, all costs, all taxes, all expenditures are ultimately borne by us citizens because we are the end consumers.?
Bryant Street Health & Fitness is a full-service neighborhood gym in Downtown Ojai that offers a full of cardio equipment, weight room, aerobics and fitness classes, yoga, pilates, personal training, spa services, juice and snack bar and more. Located at 406-Q Bryant Circle, Ojai. More information at www.bryantstgym.com or call 805.646.2233.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 24-Apr-2013
Share ] 
Happiness interview: Christine Koh and Asha Dornfest.