The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is sounding the alarm as provincial governments reimpose or seek to reimpose lockdowns due to rising cases of COVID-19. The group says that up to 225,000 small businesses will be forced to close for good if the government shuts them down again without providing better financial help, the Toronto Sun is reporting.
In a statement, the CFIB says that cities and provinces that decide to reimpose lockdowns need “to provide immediate and full financial support to affected businesses.”
The CFIB has estimated that a shocking 225,000 small businesses could close for good if another lockdown is imposed, that is up from their earlier estimate which foresaw 160,000 potential permanent closure as a result of lockdowns.
In a statement, CFIB President Dan Kelly said “‘We are all in this together’ means that business owners should not be asked to cover the costs of protecting society through fresh lockdowns of the economy alone.”
“They need full, immediate and ongoing support in any jurisdiction where new restrictions are introduced.”
The CFIB specifically mentioned that there lacks a federal rent support program, as the new Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) has still not been approved by the senate.
They also stated that Trudeau’s federal wage subsidy has decreased from 75 percent to 65 percent. As of now, the government has no plan of increasing it. The CFIB doesn't want to see provinces to limit reapplying blanket lockdowns and opt for closing sectors and regions which are heavily affected by the coronavirus.
The federation also wants to see fairness when it comes to closures, so that big box stores don't continue to sell “non-essential” items because they happen to sell groceries. For example, if clothing stores are shut down, the clothing section of Walmart or Costco should also be closed, this is something which was done in Whales.
Lastly, the CFIB said that they want to see provinces provide “retroactive rent support” for businesses who weren't able to take part in the which do not qualify CECRA (the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance) because their Landlords did not participate.
Manitoba is so far the only province to have reimposed a full lockdown. When announcing that Ontario would strengthen and expand its “red zones” on Friday, Premier Doug Ford said that he won't hesitate to reimpose a lockdown once his Chief Medical Officer tells him to.
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