Finance committee  First, often very small businesses provide local services, and these businesses can't access funding or loans. Currently, the best way to help them is to give them direct subsidies to make up for the shortfall caused by the last months of the pandemic. The subsidies don't need to be large.

Finance committee  I hope that this answered your question.

Finance committee  Thank you for your questions. I'll provide a concrete example. A vegetable and fruit farm grows produce only in the summer. Often, the owners don't pay themselves wages, but dividends at the end of the season. To access the Canada emergency response benefit, Canadian businesses must pay $20,000 in wages.

Finance committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. Members of the committee, thank you for inviting us to contribute to this process and to look at the financial resources in place to support all Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic. I'm the elected reeve of the RCM of Témiscamingue. I represent a 19,000 km2 area with 19 municipalities, a municipal committee and 16,000 residents.