Thank you for the question, Mr. Ste-Marie.
I think that the CERB needs to be extended for workers in these sectors, for as long as possible. We think that the health crisis will affect the cultural sector and the restaurant and hotel industries for a longer period of time, which I also mentioned. If we do nothing and these benefits stop in June, workers in the cultural and media sectors will have to rely on food banks in July because they will not have an income to pay for food and rent. We cannot abandon them. They'll need help.
It will be the same for the businesses in these sectors. Some businesses will likely not make it through, or if they do, they will have significantly cut their payroll as of July. Some will even close up shop. This is happening every week, especially with weekly newspapers in the regions across Canada. Every week we hear this kind of thing. It's unfortunate.
We also worried that we'll lose a lot of small performance halls in the cultural sector. We are hearing from some that they estimate we could lose up to 50% of existing performance halls. We cannot abandon them. They'll need support, which could be required longer than in other sectors.