We are at a historic moment, Minister Ng. We are hearing from the B.C. Chamber of Commerce that 49% of businesses with fewer than five employees can't find federal programs that suit their needs.
I know you've made amendments to the Canada emergency business account and you've lowered the threshold on payroll and upped it. The problem is that a lot of the proprietors are still falling through the gaps. They are not able to access a loan. I'll give you an example. Kristy Stroulger-Lotzien, who owns Soak Essentials in Parksville, British Columbia, has a payroll of $18,000 and can't access the Canada emergency business account.
The NDP is going to put forward a proposal today that you consider another measurement, gross revenue, so that you're not just focused on payroll and those proprietors can demonstrate.... Let's say a business has a gross revenue of $200,000 a year and you're collecting $14,000 a year in GST, or a portion of the HST. Over three years, you'd collect $42,000. The risk to the government is low by giving them the loan and the rebate versus losing that business and all of that tax collection.
Will you consider looking at another measurement so that people can get the support they need?