moved:
That the House call on the government to include in the next federal budget measures to help workers and their families struggling the most in the current economic downturn by:
(a) introducing sector-specific measures to support workers in the highly impacted hospitality, tourism and charitable sectors;
(b) providing repayable loans to airlines in exchange for consumer refunds, job guarantees, restrictions on executive compensation and restoration of regional routes; and
(c) improving support programs, including lending supports, for small and medium businesses to be accessible within 30 days of the passage of this motion to prevent a wave of bankruptcies and layoffs.
Mr. Speaker, I want to let the House know that I am splitting my time with my colleague, the member for Barrie—Innisfil.
By way of context, the motion we are debating calls for the Liberal government to table a federal budget that includes specific support for the hardest hit sectors of our economy, namely tourism, hospitality, airlines, the charitable sector and, more broadly speaking, small businesses across our country. We all know that the pandemic has devastated our economy, but there is great convergence as to what needs to be done. We all agree that vaccination needs to take place. Then we need to reopen our economy, get people back to work and help get struggling Canadian businesses back on their feet again. We then need a plan to manage the long-term financial challenge that Canadians will face.
The Prime Minister promised that no one would be left behind in the process—