Yes. Thank you.
Mr. Littler, we've heard from previous testimony here at the finance committee that the average small business has taken on $170,000 in non-bank debt during the pandemic. We also heard at our last meeting that small businesses are being denied HASCAP loans because they can't provide a revenue projection.
Unfortunately, the government has absolutely no concrete plan with any sort of benchmarks for a safe reopening, making it impossible for these businesses to be able to project revenue. That means banks are refusing to approve loans for highly affected sector credit availability because—surprise, surprise—these businesses are too high-risk.
It appears to me that this program, HASCAP, is about to join the growing list as yet one more Liberal program failure.
What sorts of safe reopening benchmarks do your retailers need to be able to see to secure their future? Also, would you agree that the 4% interest rate being charged by the HASCAP loan program is unreasonably higher than what the Bank of Canada and every other Canadian is able to access?