Some 200 business owners and businesspeople from 26 communities across Northern Ontario took part in a virtual town hall this morning with federal Economic Development Minister Melanie Joly.
The event was hosted by Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce using the Zoom videoconferencing app. A sniffly Joly sipped coffee as she provided an overview of the federal programs and initiatives that have been rolled out to help Canadian businesses weather the storm of the pandemic.
She said early on, it appeared Canada would rebound fairly quickly from COVID-19, but as the days and weeks ground on and cases continued to rise, it became clear those early projections were inaccurate.
Joly said the federal government quickly pivoted their early plans. She acknowledged the economic impact of closing businesses and sending people home, and the expense of helping Canadians cover the cost of living while self-isolating at home, but said fortunately the country was in a good place to be able to do this.
“We were the G7 country with the best fiscal position before the pandemic,” she said. What position Canada will be in after things open up again was not discussed.
She highlighted the grant and loan programs for businesses, as well as the 75-per-cent wage subsidy (which could be extended, she said) and the Canadian Emergency Business Account (CEBA) program (an interest-free $40,000 loan, with $10,000 subsidy, for businesses and non-profits), which she said has proven “very popular” among business owners.
Joly also encouraged northern business owners (mentioning outfitters in particular) who haven’t to contact their local FedNor office to access additional funding.
She said MPs Paul Lefebvre and Marc Serré have been strong advocates for FedNor. Joly also credited her parliamentary assistant, Sault MP Terry Sheehan, for providing her with a more boots-on-the-ground perspective of what Northern Ontario businesses are facing and what they need.
Joly fielded about a dozen questions over the nearly hour-long town hall. Topics ranged from the plight of outfitters facing what could be a very lean season and the likely poor tourist season this summer (these will be among the first sectors to be restarted), to students worried about not being able to find summer jobs (reach out to your local MPs, she said) to when the Canada-U.S. border would re-open (still eyeing May 31).
