Finance committee  I would not suggest that we delay this piece of legislation. To the points that were raised earlier by Mr. Wark, we need to see some movement on this. We've been waiting. We've been hoping that a government and opposition parties would align to make this happen, and perhaps this

Finance committee  You can't get enough of me, can you? I'm sorry I missed you in our meeting yesterday, Wayne. Chair and committee members, it's a pleasure to be back again. I'm really happy to present on this bill—a bill that CFIB strongly supports. As you can imagine, we are not tax policy expe

Finance committee  You got it. Seventy-three per cent of businesses have taken on new debt at an average of $170,000.

Finance committee  The good news is that the government has laid the rails for really good programs that could deliver with some minor modifications. I wasn't a huge fan of the CEBA loan program at the beginning, I have to admit, but Minister Morneau, who hated my guts, put in place a good program

Finance committee  We have a whole separate letter about new businesses and how to fix all the programs, including on rent, and make it available to them. I get the government's concern about having these programs leak like a sieve and allowing fraudsters to create fake businesses in order to acces

Finance committee  Yes, for sure.

Finance committee  First let me say that the rent support program is a heck of a lot better than the earlier version. The new CERS program is leaps and bounds ahead of the failed CECRA program that was put in place at the beginning of the pandemic. When the Deputy Prime Minister took up her role in

Finance committee  We've been begging governments to look at the plight of new business owners. I know they're sensitive to it and they're thinking about it, but, for goodness' sake, we're a year into the pandemic and these businesses have had no support at all. I don't have an exact number. There

Finance committee  I will take a slightly different tack, with the same end point as Lauren. I am really worried about the amount of money the government has been racking up in federal debt over the last little while, and I know we're passing the bill to future generations, including my 12-year-old

Finance committee  I'm super worried about the slow rollout of vaccines—especially as Canadian entrepreneurs look at what's happening in some of our major trading partners, as in the U.S.—and getting tourism back. The U.S. is allowing those who are vaccinated to return to the U.S. without having to

Finance committee  We've tried to do some of that. I think it was in my deck today that about half of business owners are saying that this is having a mental health impact on them as business owners. It's pretty bad. My little not-for-profit association took 78,000 calls from business owners last

Finance committee  I don't think Bill C-14 helps us at all on the rent subsidy program, but it is important legislation nonetheless. We ask all parties to work quickly to get it across the finish line. My understanding is that this legislation also helps us significantly with refunding some of the

Finance committee  The biggest difference is how far and for how long governments have needed to lock down the business community. Of course, Atlantic Canada took a different approach by basically sealing off the borders quickly and then preventing much of the lockdown that might otherwise have bee

Finance committee  If we broaden the discussion to small businesses, many of the things that Lauren shared are very relevant for all the sectors. Keep in mind the sectors that have been hardest hit by the pandemic. We've talked about the groups of employees who have been hardest hit, but the sector

Finance committee  I'm not sure that I understand what you mean by an equity tax credit, but the idea of some support as we move from lockdowns to ending of stay-at-home orders and advice and then into an open economy.... That transition is going to be a really delicate one and different for every