Here is the letter NDP Critic for Small Business and Tourism, Gord Johns and I as the NDP Spokesperson on Finance wrote to Minister Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade in response to the announcements made last week about the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) for small businesses. While we welcome the initiative, as the NDP had called for in our April 10 letter, the program as announced does not do enough to support small businesses.
IN THE HOUSE
IN THE HOUSE
Letter to the Finance Minister regarding migrant workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic
The Covid 19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on people right across the globe. People accustomed to traveling internationally for their work are stranded away from their home country, but in no less need of support to get through this crisis.
I wrote to the Minister of Finance to raise my concern directly with him about the plight of migrant workers and temporary residents in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic.
IN THE NEWS
New Westminster-Burnaby MP: time for a shared sacrifice
April 28, 2020 12:35 PM
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New Westminster-Burnaby MP Peter Julian, left, dropped by city hall a few months ago to deliver his Pharmacare C213 - An Act to Enact Canada Pharmacare Act to Mayor Jonathan Cote. On Julian's invitation, Cote appeared before the federal finance committee last week. Julian, the federal NDP's finance critic, is a member of the committee.
IN THE HOUSE
Letter to the Minister on the Summer Jobs Program amid COVID-19
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Government needs to give small businesses rent support before it’s too late
"Loans alone are not going to cut it,� said Johns. “Businesses can't afford more debt.�
Johns and NDP Finance Critic, Peter Julian, called on the government to help small and medium businesses pay their commercial rent weeks ago. Despite the Prime Minister’s promise to help small businesses last week, people are still waiting for money to arrive as May 1 approaches.
IN THE HOUSE
Joint letter regarding urgent funding request for TransLink amid COVID-19
IN THE NEWS
MPs to consider new mailing guidelines as some call for shuttered service's return
Hill Times, by: Samantha Wright Allen
'We cannot be deprived for a long time from this tool to reach out to our constituents,' says Bloc MP Stéphane Bergeron.
When Parliament shut down, Members of Parliament lost the ability to mail their constituents en masse, which some worry is stopping key information from getting to vulnerable residents in the middle of a pandemic.
IN THE NEWS
Parties talking about how to proceed with Parliament
Red Deer Advocate
Covid-19 | A16, Words: 364
POLITICS
OTTAWA - Talks that would scrap the scheduled return of Parliament next week are getting underway as all federal parties grapple with how to keep democratic institutions together while Canadians continue to be urged to stay apart.
MPs agreed March 13 to suspend Parliament as public health officials across the country began increasing restrictions on gatherings in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, but the agreement said Parliament would resume Monday, April 20.
IN THE NEWS
Talks among parties on how to proceed with Parliament underway
Canadian Press Newswire
OTTAWA _ Talks that would scrap the scheduled return of Parliament next week are getting underway as all federal parties grapple with how to keep democratic institutions together while Canadians continue to be urged to stay apart.
MPs agreed March 13 to suspend Parliament as public health officials across the country began increasing restrictions on gatherings in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, but the agreement said Parliament would resume Monday, April 20.
IN THE NEWS
NDP MPs call for rent relief for small businesses
B.C. NDP members called on Ottawa to offer relief to small business commercial renters as Parliament passed a mammoth $71-billion wage subsidy bill on Saturday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the new Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) for businesses, nonprofits and charities, approved on April 11, the most significant economic program since the Second World War.
IN THE NEWS
Party leaders speak before Parliament reconvenes to debate wage subsidy bill
CBC.ca: Politics by: Raisa Patel
Politics, Words: 511
Canada's opposition leaders have returned to Ottawa ahead of the House of Commons reconvening Saturday afternoon to debate the federal government's wage subsidy legislation.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and the Leader of the Official Opposition Andrew Scheer are set to deliver remarks before the debate, which is scheduled to start at 12:15 p.m. ET. The Senate is expected to sit at 4 p.m. this afternoon.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Small businesses need more than loans to get through pandemic
“This government is quick to bail out large corporations, but so far, small businesses have been left to struggle with commercial rent payments on their own,� said Johns. “Small businesses and the people who run them are key to our communities and they need help paying their bills right now. More than the loans the government has offered, what we’re proposing will help support tenants and the landlords that opt in.�