It looks like the Provincial NDP and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business are at loggerheads over the Province's job creation strategy.

The Province says it's a success.

The CFIB, not so much.

At least according to a new survey that CFIB Alberta Director Amber Ruddy says, shows 94 per cent of the businesses they surveyed aren't confident in the Government's vision to support entrepreneurship.

"The messages simply aren't resonating with small business owners."

Out of the 985 business surveyed, 40-percent say they may lay off employees over the next three months.

From the CFIB release:

Insufficient demand is a top limitation for entrepreneurs while major cost constraints stem from tax, regulatory, and wage pressures.

“With the unemployment rate creeping up, the Alberta government is ramping up the spin.  Hiring plans have never been in a more dismal state. Proclaiming the Alberta Jobs Plan is working, is completely removed from the current economic reality. The fact that so few business owners are very confident in the Alberta¹s government’s vision for entrepreneurs says it all,” concluded Ruddy.

CFIB urges the government to postpone the carbon tax, future minimum wage hikes until the economy sufficiently recovers.

Small business owners would welcome a more pragmatic approach to the development and timing of major new public policies.  

The CFIB survey was a controlled-access, web-based survey of 985 respondents conducted from September 13 to October 6, 2016.