As you know full well, remortgaging one’s home is not a solution for repaying the emergency loan.
I will give you a real example of what happened to a businesswoman in my region.
This woman has a fantastic business: a zero waste grocery store. She works hard and is a mom. She struggled for years to find funding. When she gets home at night, she does not always have the time needed to search for funding. She’s taking care of her children.
The programs lack flexibility. This entrepreneur wanted to apply one night when she had a bit of time, and found out she missed the deadline to apply within the program’s timeline. She’s been making me aware of the difficulties women experience for some time now. I heard that same story many times. No solution was put forward, and it just makes things harder for businesses. Remortgaging one’s home is no small thing, Minister.
Will you conduct a study on the impact the delay might have had on small and medium businesses, or SMEs, to determine if women-owned SMEs, specifically, have been affected disproportionately?
Will you conduct this study, Minister?