Over the last seven months many small businesses, in particular, have struggled, some have gone under. Many people have lost their jobs. Governments are incurring large deficits. What plans does your party have to help B.C. recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic?
As a small business owner that has struggled during this pandemic, I understand how urgent this issue is.
After being elected, BC Greens will immediately set aside $300 million for rent subsidies for businesses. We will develop an immediate program for small tourism operators, and non-for-profit tourism and cultural businesses, to provide grants to help these businesses survive the entire pandemic.
This would be done in conversation with the industry to ensure that the program makes sense. For hospitality and tourism businesses that do not qualify as small operators, BC Greens will work with the federal government to establish a repayable loan program.
In many ways this pandemic has highlighted issues that we already knew existed, but it is also showing us a way forward. Our recovery plan is based on investing in people and communities and includes hiring 7,000 new health care works. We will prioritize those whose jobs have been impacted by the pandemic, such as those in tourism and hospitality sectors, and this will include paid training to ensure it is accessible to more people. This will boost our health care system while also creating good paying, family supporting jobs throughout BC.
Another example in our plan would be The Clean Coast, Clean Waters Initiative Fund (CCCW) which helps small ship tour operators, Indigenous Nations, local communities and others participate in a $3.5-million cleanup of the shores of the central coast. The cleanup will create jobs and supports coastal communities as they recover from the COVID-19 economic downturn.
In closing I will say that the BC Government is a major purchaser of goods and service in this province and we need to ensure that we use that power to buy local and hire local.
The BC Liberals have announced that as part of their plan to help the province get out of the Covid19 slump is the elimination of the 7% PST for one year. Not only will this SAVE people money but it will also put more people into local stores.
It’s hoped that BC folks will look at projects they have been putting off, home renos, new appliances, etc and they will move on those and others and save $$$. The increased activity in the stores will assist local businesses and help the owners maintain or even bring back staff.
The $1,000 give-a-way the NDP are promising is just the money you paid last year in taxes they are just sending it back to you so that you can pay taxes on it again this year! That is not a savings or even a gift. It was your money in the first place!
The BC Liberals will also eliminate the 2% Small Business Income Tax in a move to give more help to BC businesses. John Horgan called this uneccesary election while they were a working government while promising $1.5 billion of relief funds that small business needed badly.
They announced that back in the spring and then again a couple of days before the election… and still nothing has happened with those funds that were needed back then and even more so now!
The BC Liberals have also committed to emergency loan guarantee programs for the BC’s more than 19,000 tourism and hospitality based businesses. The BC Liberals believe in small business. They make up the bulk of the businesses in this amazing province. The BC Liberals will work with all businesses to help them stay on their feet, not just a select few.
Candidates responses to this question have been added in the order received. Go to the Election Questions list to see questions that have been submitted to the Forum.
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