Thank you.
I believe that Dan was talking about rent deferral. We're always talking about big companies. For small businesses now in Canada, I wish that the Canada Revenue Agency would go through their T4s or their revenue. Not many of them make more than $50,000. In the short term, it's great that we're given the $2,000, but as a business owner, I can tell you that $2,000 does not pay for my insurance. I have businesses, insurance, cars. It doesn't help.
So I think the government should work directly with the landlords to give them subsidies for rent and work with them on a one-year proposal. If any business opens in Ottawa or anywhere in Canada and cannot pay its rent, it cannot survive. You're going to have 40% to 50% of those businesses closing their doors?
I'm talking now about small businesses. We're all afraid about what's going to happen when we open up again, with social distancing. What does that mean? I went to the bank yesterday. They made me stand six feet away. I was not able to get in. Most of these restaurants have 100 chairs. You're going to drop that to 50, or most of the services may not be able to survive, and there are the big things you have to think about, for the long term. Is the world going to open its borders? Is the United States going to open its border 100% for us? Is China going to open its border? Are the Mexicans going to visit? This is a big question the government has to consider, to help these people survive for the next year, at this specific point.
I talked earlier about businesses being able to survive. In Ottawa I know 20 to 30 businesses that pay rents of between $6,000 to and $7,000. They pay their rents and they get their salaries as dividends. This $40,000 program is not helping them.