Compas Poll / Survey

Tax policy may mark the end of a honeymoon between the federal government and the business panel. Ever since the Harper government’s election, it has been receiving very strong scores for its performance on a wide range of policies. In a departure from this pattern, the government earned failing grades on three of five tax policies and bare passing grades on the two others in this week’s web survey.

CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS panel are disappointed that a Conservative government would adopt some of the tax policies that it has. They remain concerned, as they have been in the past, that high tax rates beget high rates of tax cheating and an illegal economy. Despite their frustrations, some panellists volunteer that they are withholding their firm or final assessment of this government until it achieves a majority. In a majority setting, it will be easier to assess the true nature of the government, they feel.

These are the key findings from the past week’s web survey of the COMPAS CEO and business leader panel undertaken for The Financial Post under sponsorship of BDO Dunwoody LLP.