Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to all our witnesses. This is important testimony, and all of us hope that your families are safe and healthy. I appreciate all of the testimony.
I'll start with Mr. Kelly. I have four questions.
First, we know from the Minister of Finance that they are already working on putting in place the wage subsidy, so the issue of when the legislation passes is immaterial as they are already putting in place the steps. The finance minister also reports that it could be as long as six weeks before money is made available. That must be a concern in terms of how quickly the government responds to the crisis and how quickly businesses are able to access money.
The second question actually comes from somebody you know well, Gord Johns, the MP for Courtenay—Alberni. He is our small business critic. He raised the issue that a constituent, Shelly Lee Fader, who owns Jiggers Fish & Chips in Ucluelet, applied for the loan she needed for her business, but because of the payroll requirement, she fell $483 short of the minimum payroll requirement, so it has been rejected by the system.
My second question is really around the regulations. Do they not need to be much more flexible, both in terms of loans and also in terms of the wage subsidy and that 30% threshold? You can imagine the number of businesses that will be $483 short on actually attaining that 30% threshold and what that will mean for their businesses.
My final question is around rent abatement. Denmark, Australia and France have put in place programs of rent abatement for businesses. Gord Johns and I have written to the finance minister asking, as part of that shared measure, that the federal government put forward a program to reimburse a portion of rent abatement for small businesses. That would help property owners, of course, give more flexibility to the business owners who rent from them. Do you think that a rent abatement program, as what other countries have done, would be important for the small business sector?