The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent business closures have forced normally slow to move governments in many countries to pick up the pace significantly and Canada’s federal government certainly has, according to the Member of Parliament for Bay of Quinte riding.
Neil Elllis told a virtual ZOOM meeting of the Belleville Chamber of Commerce Wednesday that, as far as he was concerned, his Liberal government was doing a “phenomenal job” of getting emergency financial support out to individuals and businesses quickly but admitted there were glitches in the process.
In response to a question from a Chamber member about people cheating by receiving emergency funding and also receiving employment insurance after being laid off, Ellis said, “We as a government had a simple choice. Either we only allow workers to go through the employment insurance system for support meaning they’d be waiting for several weeks before seeing any money or have them go through the Canada Emergency Response Benefit where people get money much more quickly. We believe people needed help fast under these circumstances. And the Canada Revenue Agency has lots of tools at its disposal and double-dippers should expect problems at income tax time.”
Another member complained that a lot of legitimate small businesses weren’t receiving loans under a small business program because they didn’t have an official business account and weren’t incorporated. Ellis said he was pushing hard to have that changed recognizing that many businesses ran their payrolls, sometimes significant ones, through personal accounts, adding it was unfair that such operations were ineligible for the loans.
Ellis described some of the multitude of funding programs offered to employees and businesses alike saying, in total, $150 billion has been earmarked by the federal government for pandemic financial supports.
When asked if the government would extend the programs if the pandemic continues longer than expected, Ellis said no final decision had been made yet but he’d expect the programs would be extended as it was “important we get out on the other side of this economic downturn in decent shape or else things could get a lot worse.”
Ellis took some time to thank his staff because the workload increased dramatically when the emergency declaration was made. “We’re dealing with 100 to 120 emails a day and all kinds of calls. It’s never been busier.”
Meanwhile, Liberal MPs hold virtual meetings with cabinet ministers almost every morning to receive updates on the government’s pandemic response and to bring feedback from their constituents regarding improvements that could be made.
“We’re doing our best in what are definitely challenging times.”
