This bill is from the 43rd Parliament, 2nd session, which ended in August 2021.
Chrystia Freeland Liberal
This bill has received Royal Assent and is now law.
This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament has also written a full legislative summary of the bill.
This enactment amends the Income Tax Act to revise the eligibility criteria, as well as the level of subsidization, under the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) as part of the response to the coronavirus disease 2019. It also extends the CEWS to June 30, 2021. The enactment further amends the Income Tax Act to introduce the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) in order to support those hardest hit by the coronavirus disease 2019. This subsidy provides relief in respect of rent and interest on debt obligations incurred to acquire real property used by businesses, charities and not-for-profit organizations in the course of their businesses or other activities. The rent subsidy is effective as of September 27, 2020.
All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.
Bill numbers are reused for different bills each new session. Perhaps you were looking for one of these other C-9s:
Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC
Madam Chair, again I am very pleased to support and repeat what the Minister of Finance said very clearly earlier, which is that the objectives of this very important piece of legislation are to support business owners in a very difficult time, and to be adapted to their specific—
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Madam Chair, I am going to hold the minister to account on this because I really do believe that we want to make sure that business owners can access it. Right now, we know on the CEBA program that if people do not have a business registration number with Revenue Canada they do not qualify. To me, that is discriminatory against those sole proprietorships.
I will ask the minister one more time: Will the Liberals make sure, for these new programs as well as for CEBA, which is currently in effect, that they get rid of the requirement for business registration numbers for sole proprietorships, especially for farmers?
Mary Ng LiberalMinister of Small Business
Madam Chair, I want to thank the hon. member for that question and for his great advocacy for small business owners, particularly for those farmers who operate on a personal account. We announced, and of course it is being made available, the CEBA loan for those very business owners who operate on a personal account.
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Madam Chair, I can tell the minister that I was talking to one of our local farm families, and they have been told by their financial institution that, because they do not have a business registration number with Revenue Canada, they do not qualify. Therefore, I am going to ask the minister to let them contact her. Will she make sure that they get access to the CEBA program?
I want to switch gears a bit and follow up on some of the questions that were asked by my colleague from Brandon—Souris.
In rural Canada, fairs, festivals and rodeos are the backbone of our communities during the summer. Of course, right now, they are really struggling. In 2009 and 2010, I was proud when our former Conservative government announced the marquee tourism events program: $100 million over two years. Does the Minister of Finance plan to bring forward any support for our fairs and festivals across this country?
Navdeep Bains LiberalMinister of Innovation
Madam Chair, I am very familiar with the marquee tourism initiative. Unfortunately, I also remember I was an opposition member at that time, and that program discriminated against certain organizations.
In our investments, we have made sure that we have an open process that enables many organizations to take advantage of such initiatives. That is why we have invested $1.5 billion through the regional development agencies to advance such programs and assist such associations, as well as $500 million through the Minister of Canadian Heritage, in his fund, to assist these types of organizations.
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Madam Chair, I can tell the member that fairs, festivals, special events and cultural events are waiting with bated breath, because there have been no announcements or support offered by the government. I think the government needs to make sure that there are dollars rolling out, because nobody has seen a single red cent yet.
Again, one thing that is important in my riding is tourism. I know that our independent travel agencies are struggling and our youth camps are struggling. I know that Camp Arnes, Camp Massad, Gimli Bible Camp and Camp Cedarwood are looking for some level of support.
Beyond the wage and rent subsidies, can the government guarantee that some of those dollars will flow to our camps, so that they can be there in operation for our youth in the future?
Mary Ng Liberal Markham—Thornhill, ON
Madam Chair, for those businesses that are so terribly hard hit, we absolutely want to see them supported through this very difficult time of COVID-19, and we are going to need to keep working together on this.
Karen Vecchio Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
Madam Chair, in the town of St. Thomas, it was recently announced that the Marriott was closing its doors. The Marriott hired over 500 individuals, mostly women. At this time, they have all lost their jobs and are looking for new ones. Multiple sectors just like this have also been hit hard, but specifically the tourism sector. I am wondering what the next steps are that this government is going to take to reopen Canada.
Mary Ng LiberalMinister of Small Business
Madam Chair, I want to thank the hon. member for her advocacy and her hard work, particularly for her community and so many of the incredible businesses there. I know how much she cares and how hard she works for them.
The broad-based emergency supports are there to help our businesses, but remember that the fight we are fighting right now is the COVID-19 fight.
Karen Vecchio Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
Madam Chair, just yesterday, this government voted against our opposition day motion to delay audits for small businesses receiving the wage subsidy program. I fully believe in accountability and transparency, but why did this government choose to vote against it?
Income Tax ActGovernment Orders
November 5th, 2020 / 10:15 p.m.
Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine Québec
Liberal
Diane Lebouthillier LiberalMinister of National Revenue
Madam Chair, in June, my Conservative colleagues were clamouring for more audits of the emergency response programs.
Now they want fewer audits of a program that has paid out $45 billion to 1.4 million applicants. The Conservatives need to make up their minds.
Karen Vecchio Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
Madam Chair, I am really not sure where we are going with this. I am just asking why they did not support the motion. That is one of the greatest concerns.
We know that small businesses are being kicked right now when they are down. Why is the government asking for this documentation at a time that is very difficult, as many small business owners are working additional hours filling in all of these gaps? Why is the government not giving them a break right now?
Mary Ng Liberal Markham—Thornhill, ON
Madam Chair, that is what the legislation is about. It is about keeping the work, continuing the work and building on what we need to do to help businesses with those fixed costs and help them with the wage subsidy. When I see some of these businesses that are so resilient, they have pivoted because of being able to get a—
