Let's say I own a restaurant called David Lefebvre Pizza. If I had $200,000 in sales before the crisis, as shown by my tax returns and accounting statements, my business would be eligible for the wage subsidy until my level of revenue had returned to $140,000.
The government considers businesses that have lost 30% or more of their revenue to be in a difficult situation; at that point, they qualify for the wage subsidy. Similarly, we feel that a return to 70% of pre-crisis revenues represents somewhat of a return to normal, although it does not mean that the crisis is completely behind us. We think it's a reasonable threshold when you compare the 70% we are proposing with the 30% provided for under another federal program. Throughout the situation, the business owner would receive support until things returned to normal. It could be a percentage based on losses. A system like that could be put in place.
Keep in mind that, not that long ago in the industry, some business owners had lease agreements where rent payments were pegged to revenues. It worked. It's not completely new to the industry. It's just a practice that was dropped along the way.
We have to start working on certain things again to be sure that the recovery does happen and that as many restaurants as possible survive.