How could you forget me?
Anyway, I want to say a huge thanks to everyone. This has been an absolutely excellent presentation, and I really appreciate hearing from each one of you.
I think all of you have alluded to this: We're going through an unprecedented time here in Canadian history. You've all also alluded to the fact that the federal government has acted fairly quickly. We've introduced a whole bunch of support programs. We've tried to get money into the hands of as many people as possible as quickly as possible, and we took the motto of “perfect can't be the enemy of the good”. Obviously, we have a lot more to do, and I think we're starting to get a much better sense of how things may unfold.
I call it three phases. First is that we're still trying to get past the surge phase, so we're still in the immediacy of the whole situation. The next phase is what I call the interim phase. It's the phase right before we get to the vaccine. We can't go back to the new normal until we get some sort of vaccine, so how are we going to operate in this interim period, which most see as around a year to a year and a half?
A number of you have mentioned a number of really great ideas: the 100% rent abatement; the easier to access loans, more of them forgivable; imposing more unanimous rules, particularly around rents and getting money to grow as fast as possible; and a number of changes that we need to make with our banks. I think that's been heard loud and clear, so I wanted to mention that to you.
I wonder if I can get some advice or some input into how we start looking at this interim phase. As a number of people have mentioned, restaurants might be able to go back 40% to 60%, but it's going to have to be under strict public health rules. Even once we get into the vaccine, it's going to be a new normal. The world will change there as well. Food prices will be different. How we staff will be different. Behaviour in society will change, and I think one of the panellists mentioned something about travelling far more in Canada and how we can promote that.
We're trying to get to the immediacies. You've made some great recommendations, now I'm trying to ask how we get through the next phase. What's the group of people? Do we need to form a panel, a committee? Do we need to have the developers come or the bankers come together? Do we need to bring all the restaurants together, or federal and provincial governments? What's the right grouping of people to help set a plan for what happens over the interim period? How can we craft some new plan moving forward, once we have a vaccine in place?
I'm not sure who wants to take that. I'd love to hear from someone from the restaurants, someone from the hotel industry and maybe someone from tourism, if someone wants to take that.