North Island-Powell River MP Rachel Blaney continues to work on a number of files during the COVID-19 shutdown.
In a media teleconference on April 20, Blaney said as her office goes through changed processes with COVID-19, it is a scary time and her staff continues to work hard with constituents, communities, organizations and businesses as the country navigates rapidly changing times. Her offices continue to be closed to the public but are keeping on top of phone calls and emails and working with people, she added.
Blaney said managing information is one of the most challenging items her organization is faced with at this time because of how quickly things are changing.
She said some of the most poignant updates at this point are around how businesses are doing around the riding and across Canada.
Blaney said she heard a few days ago that the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), which is an interest-free loan of $40,000, has expanded to include payrolls starting out at $20,000 per year. It was initially at $50,000 a year.
“A lot of our smaller businesses may not reach that [$50,000] so I’m glad to see that go down to the $20,000,” said Blaney. “It has gone up as far as $1.5 million for businesses to be able to apply.
“One of the challenges we are seeing in the riding is that organizations and businesses that are connected to local credit unions have not been able to access this. When CEBA was initially rolled out the government rolled it out with the larger banks and not with the local credit unions. Today we heard back from the finance department that they will be working on this more rapidly to get credit unions up to speed. That is going to be happening so we’re happy to see that.”
Blaney said she also knows one of the biggest concerns across Canada is how people are coming into the country and she was relieved to see the prime minister announce that Canada will now extend the semi-closure of the border with the United States for the next month.
“At this point, only essential services and essential supplies that we need are allowed to cross the border,” said Blaney. “We are still, of course, welcoming home Canadians and permanent residents that may have been away for one reason or another. We really appreciate that the provincial government has stepped up and now the federal government seems to be supporting that as well, which is having, when people come in, an actual plan of what their two weeks in isolation is going to look like. If they do not have a plan then they are going to be put into isolation.
“We cannot play with this. We see in BC that curve going down and we need to keep doing that.”
Blaney said indigenous business support was also announced. She said there are businesses across the riding that will benefit from this program.
On April 20, the House of Commons resumed its sittings; it is the third time parliament has sat since it first closed because of COVID-19, said Blaney.
“There continues to be a small number of members of parliament, around 32, in the house doing today’s work,” she said. “We still feel strongly that like every other Canadian, members of parliament have to respect the rules. Businesses and organizations are finding new ways to address them, so I think members of parliament have to do the same.”
Blaney said what the NDP is supporting is one day a week sitting in the House of Commons with a reduced number of members, and two electronic virtual question periods.
“Those allow us to address the most important issues that I think all Canadians want to see addressed,” said Blaney. “It’s just accountability. It’s important that the voices of Canadians are heard and members of parliament do that work. We can do it virtually.”
She concluded by saying she was in deep sadness about the shootings in Nova Scotia. She said her prayers and thoughts are with everybody in that province, and especially those in the small communities that have lost something very precious, which is the sense of safety.
