It is 1975, and CFIB has built a reputation as a fighter opposing changes to the Income Tax Act, The Combines Investigation Act, The Canada Labour Relations Act and the Unemployment Insurance Act. The question in my mind at the time was whether our destiny was to be a “fighter” or could we be both “fighters” and “builders”.
The answer I was looking for was provided to me by the Chairman of the International Symposium on Small Business held in Tokyo in 1975. His name was Dr. Tokutaro Yamanaka, and he was the President of Hitosubashi University. For his PhD, he did a study of small business in the 1960s in Japan, Germany and the United States.
He concluded that the small business communities were all different and reflected differences in public policy, public institutions, culture and history. The dominance of small business in brewing and baking in Germany, he explained, was a result of their apprenticeship system. The huge subcontracting sector in Japan is a product of their Law on Subcontracting, which encourages large firms to use subcontracting as a tool for building the small business sector. And the huge closure and start-up rates in the US, compared to Japan and Germany, create a more dynamic economy with lower consumer prices.
Finally, I could see the role of CFIB in the future as a development instrument encouraging change in the economy that would strengthen communities, create jobs and economic growth. Now I could see CFIB fighting government when necessary, but cooperating with government to help get good legislation passed.
It was so interesting for me coming out of a business school at a university where small business studies were all about entrepreneurship and new venture formation, to discover small business development generally could be such a powerful economic development instrument.
The long term role of CFIB as a powerful institution influencing economic development in all regions and sectors of the economy, can be traced back to the ISSB held in Tokyo. I also learned how beneficial it was for business to cooperate with leaders in the academic community. In Japan,a top academic that was educated in the US was assigned by MITI to work with all the associations and advocacy institutions. And after 1975, I looked at small business advocacy organizations in terms of their impact on their nations' public policies. Some were powerful, others complete failures.