Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech and for talking about the economy and regional prosperity with respect to small and medium-sized businesses. My riding of Shefford has a very strong entrepreneurial spirit and its vitality depends largely on SMEs in industries that will be adversely affected for a long time to come, particularly in the tourism and cultural sectors. Sugar shacks, for which Quebec is known, also come to mind. All of these businesses will need additional assistance.
My colleague touched on the Canada emergency business account. Is that really the way to help businesses? For many of them this is just an added debt. It might help to increase the subsidy portion from $10,000 to $20,000.
The Bloc Québécois is considering the appropriateness of tax credits in a program to help with fixed costs. For example, there could be a 50% refundable tax credit for fixed costs. This is about finding solutions for our businesses. I would like my colleague to comment on this issue, because there is still a lot of uncertainty for many businesses in our region right now.