Get back to work: Struggling business community demands more action from federal government
“I do feel that I am the captain of the Titanic right now,” says Brendan Ladner, owner of restaurant chain SMAK Healthy Fast Food. “How many months can we bleed money? Who’s got pockets to bleed thousands of dollars? I’ve got a family.”
Of course, the small business owner is talking about surviving the pandemic. Ladner’s business model relies on downtown foot traffic, which has not fully recovered since March 2020.
“There’s been no growth,” according to Ladner. “We had a bump in July and August, September’s been slower than those months because there are no tourists and still there’s nobody on the streets. There used to be 10,000 people a day walking by this location and right now there's hardly anybody."
This week, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce called on the newly re-elected Liberal minority government to get back to work as soon as possible and give Canadians a pandemic playbook to an economic recovery.
According to the Chamber, businesses and the millions of Canadians they employ need immediate action on two critical issues: safely managing the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and implementing a strategy to restore economic growth. It says the next parliament needs to prioritize helping businesses of all sizes, including extending the wage and rent subsidy programs to ensure support for the hardest-hit sectors.
“It’s a daunting time,” says Ladner. "We're all hopeful that things are going to turn around but I'm building my forecast in a real world, where I'm thinking how can I get through December? We’re going to have to turn basically to our landlords and beg them for compassion.”
According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, three quarters (76 per cent) of small businesses that took on debt say that it will take more than a year to repay. That number jumps to 87 per cent for businesses in the hospitality sector, with a majority of them saying it will take longer than two years, and nearly a quarter expressing concern about being able to pay off their debt at all.
In total, the CFIB estimates that small businesses in Canada now owe a collective $139 billion due to COVID-19, up from the estimated $135 billion in February of this year.
“The biggest concern is the uncertainty,” says John Nicholson, from the Listel Hospitality Group. “We just don’t know, it’s complete uncertainty for the hotels and also complete uncertainty for the restaurants.”
According to Nicholson, the Listel Hotel in downtown Vancouver is not back to its economic output from 2019, but management has been able to stem the losses. Typically, the hotel can plan several years in advance, but he says at this point they’re not even sure what’s happening two months ahead.
“We're not losing as much money as we were before and that's a positive thing, but for some businesses, I don't know how they're hanging on," says Nicholson.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.