Madam Speaker, my thanks to the member opposite for his contribution to the House during this Parliament and the previous Parliament.
The rent issue is not a simple one. I will be very candid here in saying that. Based on the division of powers in the Constitution, we require intense participation and co-operation on the part of the provinces. Some provinces have been more forthcoming in terms of providing that co-operation; others have not. That has been a challenge. What we are trying to do is to ensure that we are putting in place programs that would incentivize landlords to participate and provinces to play ball with respect to rent assistance. The wage subsidy that the member mentioned is also an important step.
There are also commitments in the throne speech to expand the CEBA, which is, in part, a grant-based program, where 25% would be in the form of a grant and the rest would be an interest-free loan, to assist with small businesses in terms of overcoming the very serious problems that they are facing right now with the pandemic.