VANCOUVER – With the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loan repayment deadline only one month away, Canada’s NDP is urging Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Minister for Small Business Rechie Valdez to extend the repayment deadline and loan forgiveness to help local businesses.
Ninety-eight per cent of all enterprises in B.C. are self-employed or small- to-medium businesses with fewer than fifty employees. One in ten people in our province are entrepreneurs.
“Small business is what business looks like in B.C. Yet, small business owners from all over Vancouver East have told me they’re struggling to keep up with the rising cost of goods, staff shortages and rent hikes. The Liberals must recognize that small businesses are the economic engine of our community. They keep saying how much they need a real CEBA extension to get by. Just like Eliza, the owner of Artel Salon in my riding who told me that despite her best effort, there no way she can make the CEBA loan repayment deadline. Like so many small business owners, she is desperate for some relief,” said NDP MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East). “New Democrats agree. We are dealing with a cost-of-living crisis, but the Liberals refuse to recognize it. With a month left until the CEBA repayment and load forgiveness deadline, I’m urging the Liberals to listen to what Canadians tell them and to push back CEBA for another year.”
While the Liberals are pushing small businesses to repay their loans, they’re handing out $21.6 billion in contracts to large consulting firm, cutting this spending by just four per cent would cover the costs of extending the CEBA deadline. The NDP says instead of delivering relief for small businesses that risk going under without an extension on their CEBA loan, the Liberals are giving a pass to massive ultra-rich corporations.
For months, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), local businesses, Canada’s NDP, and every premier from across the country have called for a year-long CEBA extension to keep businesses afloat. The Liberals have refused, while Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives have been silent.
“Local shops and businesses in Vancouver Kingsway are in a tough situation – the cost of everything keeps going up. So rightfully, they want to see their government helping out,” said NDP MP Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway). “But instead, what we’ve got is Justin Trudeau and the Liberals who are so out-of-touch with what people are going through that they willingly subsidize rich firms but won’t help working British Columbians. Then there’s Pierre Poilievre and his corporate-controlled Conservatives who are sitting by silently watching,” Davies said.
“New Democrats believe in supporting the small businesses that shape our community. So, we’re once again urging the Liberals to extend the CEBA loan repayment deadline by a year with the forgivable portion intact. It’s the least they could do this holiday season.”
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