The Member of Parliament for Grande Prairie-Mackenzie is calling for a faster flow of money to small businesses struggling with the effects of COVID-19.
Chris Warkentin says he is pleased that the government is rolling out a program of financial support, but adds the timeline between then a business owner applies for funding, and receives the money is too long.
“We commend the fact that the government has finally to some of the calls we (Conservative Parry of Canada) had for payroll subsidies and supports,” says Warkentin. “However, we are very, very concerned about the length of time the government is now predicting to roll these programs out.”
The wage subsidy would cover 75 percent of an employee’s salary, up to $847 per-week but according to Warkentin, it would take six weeks for an entrepreneur to even apply for the financial relief, and even more time until the money is received by businesses.
The payroll subsidy is for businesses that lost 15 percent of their revenue in May, and 30 percent in subsequent months.
“This means that small businesses will have to come up with payroll for one-and-a-half, or two months before any of these programs would see the money flow,” explains Warkentin.
“We are calling on the government to look at alternatives to see money flowing to small business owners across the Peace Country, and the rest of Canada.”
Below are some requests Warkentin says the Tories are making to the Liberals:
- Give small businesses back the GST they remitted to the government in the last year so that they have the cash to pay their employees until the wage subsidy arrives.
- Immediately set up the Canada Emergency Business Accounts so that small businesses have access to up to $40,000 in interest-free loans.
- Allow businesses to demonstrate their 30% revenue loss using other metrics such as loss of earnings, subscriptions, and orders.
- Temporarily allow owner-operators to become wage-earning employees instead of dividend recipients so that they qualify for the wage subsidy.
– Kenny Trenton, Trending 55
