Finance committee  Speaking for my company, I would say yes. Speaking for the industry as a whole, I would say that, yes, it would. However, keep in mind that it's these ongoing.... I won't call them surprises, but what you're reacting to. We talk about CERB; we talk about the mandated sick days and all these things.

Finance committee  But, Churence, what I want you to understand is this. I understand the provincial; yes, they lifted it and so on, dictated by the federal government. I paid $16,302 in September alone that I didn't budget for. That number is going to go up. When I'm meeting with my people.... What do we have to do to survive this?

Finance committee  Well, I think all of us around the table.... We have a health and benefits packages. We're being told that more people are reaching out for help for maternity leave, for stress, for whatever. Last year, $48,000 was the amount of money that our company advanced to our employees to help out with various things.

Finance committee  I can't give you an exact figure, but I'm going to say $2.01.

Finance committee  It's $2.01, but you have to realize the fluctuation in the price of gas and diesel. I'm burning two fuels there. As that price goes up and down, we get a chart every week that justifies where we need to be with our pricing model and fuel surtax.

Finance committee  The biggest challenge for me right now, because I see the direct effect, has been the effect of the carbon tax. The bigger challenge for me is the fact that I see people who are not listening to what the industry is saying about the cause and effects of all this. Like I said, I'm not an economics professor, but I do know the reality.

Finance committee  That's a fantastic question. The reality is that any type of tax affects every one of us here today. There are none excepted. I just gave you an idea, an example. I'm saying $10,000. I figure from my understanding of a truck load, a freezer load of freight coming out of Ontario into Newfoundland, that it would be somewhere around $14,000 or $12,000, so I take the figure of $10,000.

Finance committee  Well, it causes me concern, not only because I'm getting it on the back end from my employees because of the issues they're facing, but also because I'm looking at the contracts and I'm looking at my business and saying, “Where do we go from here?” I feel as though my hands are tied.

Finance committee  Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Mine is a small to mid-sized Newfoundland company that has expanded over the past 25-plus years to include five terminals across our province, 100-plus full-time employees and 150-plus pieces of equipment, from tractor-trailers to cars. Three years ago, we started doing speciality services throughout all four Atlantic provinces.