Finance committee  Yes. I need 30 seconds.

Finance committee  We want to make sure that the program is substantive and doesn't just defer rent but eliminates rent or covers at least 75% of it. It should broadly cover all SMEs, with no exceptions based on their structure or their payroll, and cover the full COVID-19 emergency phase to help them with the reopening.

Finance committee  Are you able to hear me, Chair?

Finance committee  My apologies. All right. Let me continue until we give up here. Of course, we are encouraged by some of the programs the government has put in place. The number one concern of our members, of course, is their wage bill, the top expense for small business owners. We are, of course, encouraged that as of Monday businesses can start to apply for the Canada emergency wage subsidy.

Finance committee  Good. I grabbed my son's gaming headset. Let me give this a try. Thanks again, everyone. I'll pick up where I left off. The most worrisome statistic in all the research we have been collecting weekly at CFIB is about how long businesses have before they are facing bankruptcy or before the COVID-19 disaster will take them out.

Finance committee  Sure. Can you hear me, Chair?

Finance committee  Thank you, everyone. It's great to be back with the finance committee this afternoon. The situation for small and medium-sized firms across Canada continues to be incredibly rough, some of the most challenging things I've ever heard from entrepreneurs. Our helpline at CFIB is getting 800 calls a day from our members—

Finance committee  Let me speak a little slower and louder. It seems to be a bit better. I see some nodding heads. That's good news. The situation for small companies across Canada continues to be incredibly challenging. We are now up to about 800 to 1,000 calls per day from our members across the country.

Finance committee  Ms. May, as usual, you're exactly right in terms of the situation in which many businesses find themselves. Businesses are afraid of taking on debt. When a third of small businesses report they are worried that, because they are shut down, they will never reopen, it is a little tough for them to consider taking on additional debt at this time, which they will be personally on the hook for potentially down the road.

Finance committee  Yes, you're absolutely right. Of the tools that the federal government has put in place, I think CEBA is the most logical one to allow some support of payments for rent and other fixed costs. My specific suggestion for CEBA is that the government eliminate immediately the wage thresholds, at least the bottom four, so those who pay themselves with dividends or microsized businesses can access it, and raise the top threshold to something a lot more meaningful than $1 million, because it's cutting out way too many small companies—not even medium-sized firms but still very small employers.

Finance committee  I think to a certain extent that is already happening, where businesses are going to try to get some upfront loans. I have to tell you that the biggest help you could give businesses to ensure that they have the confidence to borrow money, either through the Canada emergency business account or on their own, or using shareholders' own resources such as the value of their home in order to pay that, is by removing the 30% criterion for small and medium-sized firms.

Finance committee  Yes, we've now done four surveys of our members. Each weekend we are going to our membership. We have 110,000 small and medium-sized companies as members. We have asked them about their views of what's happening on the COVID front, what the impacts are and also what their recommendations are to the government and other public policy-makers to help address the problem.

Finance committee  Yes, there are a few things from us on that front, in addition to supporting all of the things that Susanna just mentioned. Dividends are featuring very heavily. I'm besieged with calls from business owners who have paid themselves with dividends. They have very few staff, or they contract out work, as in the case of a construction company.

Finance committee  What I like about that proposal is that it actually puts dollars in the pockets of business owners that they do not have to repay. That is the kind of support the small firms really need right now. It's similar in some ways to the $10,000 forgivable portion of the new Canada emergency business account.

Finance committee  Thank you very much for the questions. The time to receive the wage subsidy is of very significant concern. I will point you to slide nine of my slide deck. For those who are saying they would not be helped by the wage subsidy, the primary reason is that it is already too late, because it took some time to get the program in place.