The NDP’s finance critic is welcoming Friday’s announcement from the government about a business response unit being established as it was something they were calling for, but he is now asking for the Saskatchewan Party to go one step further.
Trent Wotherspoon is asking the provincial government to rapidly expand support for small businesses and self-employed individuals affected by COVID-19 to assist them in doing what’s necessary to limit the spread.
Specifically,Wotherspoon called for the government to immediately implement the following:
- Introduce grants and interest-free loans to small businesses to help them deal with serious cash flow issues because of devastated revenues;
- Introduce changes to the regulation of business leases and mortgages, to allow lease and mortgage payments to be temporarily deferred for up to six months;
- Introduce temporary new protections for small businesses to allow for deferred payments on equipment, vehicle, and other term contracts for up to six months;
- Expand the support announced yesterday for self-employed people, including those in the creative and cultural economy such as performers, artists, photographers and musicians, by broadening the eligibility beyond those required to self-isolate to include those who have lost their income because their contracts and clients have cancelled.
“Small businesses are the heart of our communities and key drivers of our economy. These local leaders are faced with incredible hardship with this unprecedented situation,” said Wotherspoon. “We need to urgently act to support entrepreneurs and local businesses to ensure that they and their employees can get through this terribly difficult time and so that they are in a position to rebuild when we come through this, not permanently shuttered.”
