First, often very small businesses provide local services, and these businesses can't access funding or loans. Currently, the best way to help them is to give them direct subsidies to make up for the shortfall caused by the last months of the pandemic. The subsidies don't need to be large. The subsidies would enable them to get their activities back on track, because often these businesses can't access funding or loans for their operations or working capital.
Second, the contribution of partners in businesses who participate in municipal, provincial or federal politics must be acknowledged. Entrepreneurs are called upon to participate in politics precisely because they've been successful in managing their businesses. We want them in our communities.
These are two easy ways to meet the needs of businesses that provide local services.
The last way to help them, and perhaps the most important way, would be to emphasize the environmental cost of doing business with companies that come from very far away and to charge for that cost. This would really show the importance of having local businesses. It would be done over the longer term. Of course, it wouldn't happen very quickly, but it would certainly give a tremendous boost to the whole concept of local services.
Lastly, I want to talk about the government's local services. I'm talking more about local provincial services than local federal services. Service Canada offices here are no longer accessible in person. The offices are accessible only online, which means that an entire community can't access tangible services. This also prevents people in rural areas from having well-paying jobs. This may be another way of looking at local services.