Mr. Speaker, 11 months into the pandemic we continue to find gaps in federal supports for small businesses. For example, to be eligible for the Canada emergency wage subsidy, a business must have had a payroll account on March 15, 2020, and there are very limited exceptions to this rule. Similar rules are in place for the Canada emergency rent subsidy.
The existing law is detrimental to new businesses that started their operations during the pandemic but are struggling with the same restrictions and revenue losses. Why has the Liberal government not fixed the wage subsidy for start-ups, and will the minister commit to doing so at the earliest opportunity?