As the White Paper battle wound down, I had to make up my mind about my future. Ryerson wanted me to come back as a teacher. And of course, there were exciting offers to enter politics. But the most intriguing option was to pursue my love for entrepreneurship and small business and fight for a better future for Canada’s small business community.
I had $50,000 in the bank of the Canadian Council for Fair Taxation. I was still getting 5-10 offers per day to speak publicly. And about 90% of my small business members said they would support me if I were to create a permanent body. The decision was made, and Jack Barrington, the retired President of the Mining Association, replaced John Hull as a member of our Board. See the attached brochure of the new Canadian Council for Fair Taxation, a permanent voice for small business.
It was a high-risk decision because I had to give up my lucrative Ryerson pension and prestigious position as a member of the Ryerson Academic Council. I felt very alone at the time, with the only real person to count on being my father.
My first shock was that with fear of the White Paper gone, raising money from speaking engagements no longer provided the cash flow I needed. During the White Paper battle, a talk to 50 people ended up with about 40 cheques arriving in the mail. Now without fear, a typical speaking engagement resulted in one or two membership cheques, at the most.
My goal with the new Council was to be a loud voice on federal and provincial fiscal policy (taxation and spending), but to my surprise, because of my public profile, I was asked to comment on anything that was newsworthy at the time that had any kind of link to the economy or to business. It became a kind of “bullshit baffles brains” experience commenting on subjects I knew nothing about. I had a sinking feeling that my idea for a new advocacy organization was a bust.
Then one day in November 1970, a volunteer showed me the literature for a U.S. organization representing small business, called the National Federation of Independent Business, that operated a sales operation that called on its members once a year.
Bingo! I called the President, Wilson Johnson, and was on a plane to San Mateo, California the next day. And that is how the Canadian Council for Fair Taxation became the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
During the White Paper battle, I never fully understood the power of fear in politics. It made me aware of how some politicians can use fear for their own political purposes. I understood the term “demagoguery” for the first time.