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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 263

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 6, 2023 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 263 - Dec/6/23
Mr. Brad Vis
  • Dec/6/23 7:22:51 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we are now past the pandemic, and I am getting tired of hearing the government raise the pandemic-related responses for small businesses time and time again, when it fails to acknowledge that the extension it provided for small business owners, to January 18, was woefully insufficient. Every single member of Parliament in the House has heard from those restaurants and small businesses that the government simply got it wrong. The real problem is that the government is not paying attention to the structural challenges facing the Canadian economy. Time and time again, small business owners have outlined all of the red tape they face along with the challenges of doing business. The numbers speak for themselves. Statistics Canada has reported time and time again in the last year that more businesses are closing than opening and that many business owners do not see an opportunity to expand because they do not believe the government has created the right conditions for them to do so—
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Context: House Hansard - 263 - Dec/6/23
Mr. Bryan May
  • Dec/6/23 7:23:59 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am not surprised that the member opposite does not want to talk about the supports we provided to small businesses, because, frankly, I wonder whether they would have done so if they had been in power. We know that inflation is a global phenomenon that is a lingering result of the pandemic and exacerbated by worldwide events. It is making life harder for many businesses, particularly restaurants. The government has introduced measures to ensure that doing business in Canada is as easy as possible, including cutting taxes for growing small businesses, lowering their credit card fees by up to a quarter and helping them access more financing to grow their businesses. We will continue to support small businesses and restaurants across the country as we deal with the very real challenges of the global economy and inflation.
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