NDP members of parliament from Vancouver Island are asking the government to focus on small businesses rather than large corporations when it comes to COVID-19 recovery.
The MPs have released a plan to continue delivering help for small businesses that have been affected by the pandemic. The plan includes an excess profit tax on pandemic profits made by large corporations, extending the wage and rent subsidies until the pandemic is over among other measures.
“It has been an incredibly difficult year for so many hard-working small business owners in our communities… The least the government can do is to support these businesses and the local people that they employ,” said North Island-Powell River MP Rachel Blaney. “Our plan is designed to make their lives easier as we build toward economic recovery.”
A release from the party says that “the Liberal government chose to help big corporations profiteering off the pandemic, Island MPs have fought for local businesses struggling to keep their doors open.”
“New Democrats propose solutions to help small business, like universal pharmacare to reduce cost for small business owners, but the Liberals and Conservatives rush to block them,” said NDP Critic for Small Business and MP for Courtenay-Alberni, Gord Johns. “Small business is the engine of job creation in Canada and the NDP will do everything necessary to support it.”
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