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Decentralized Democracy

Member of Parliament

Gord Johns

  • Member of Parliament
  • Member of Parliament
  • NDP
  • Courtenay—Alberni
  • British Columbia
  • Voting Attendance: 66%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $148,159.67

  • Government Page
Context: House Hansard - 242 - Oct/30/23
Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)
  • Oct/30/23 6:35:13 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is a privilege to rise today on a really important issue that is impacting small businesses throughout Canada. Throughout the pandemic, small businesses closed their doors to protect public health and the people in our communities. They are the unsung heroes that are not talked about enough in the House or in this country. Obviously, many of them took a major hit financially. I have some stats from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. It cites that 60% of small businesses are still struggling with pandemic debt. In fact, the average pandemic debt is $126,827. Forty-seven per cent of small businesses are operating with sales that are below normal, and 19% are at risk of closure. This is a significant number of small businesses, which are one of the economic drivers in our communities. Many workers are employed by and rely on small businesses to succeed. My colleague, the member for South Okanagan—West Kootenay, has been pushing the federal government to extend the CEBA loan for one more year, for the full-fledged, forgivable portion. We have been calling for a CEBA extension. Right now, 250,000 businesses are at risk of closing their doors. As New Democrats, we understand the critical need to support small business. We are glad to see the Bloc join in our call for a full-fledged extension to the end of next year. We are glad to see the Greens support our call to action. However, can we guess who is missing in action? It is the Conservative Party. We cannot find the Conservatives when it comes to this critical ask that the Canadian Federation of Independent Business has identified as critical to supporting small business. I am just going to read a note from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. It is part of their petition. They are asking people to write to the government. The petition says, “18 days isn't an extension. It's an insult.” That is what the federal government just offered small business when it comes to the CEBA loan. Then, if they can, they have to go back to the bank where they got the CEBA loan. They have to come up with a deal by March and have the bank take over the loan, or they will lose the forgivable piece. Then they have to pay huge interest on top of that to the bank that finances them. This is absolutely an insult to these small businesses and those that closed their doors to protect our health. I went on a business walk with Jolleen Dick, the executive director of the Alberni Valley Chamber of Commerce. We went into Flandangles Kitchen and Gifts in Port Alberni. I was talking to Chris Washington. Not only did Chris close her doors to protect public health, but she also kept her employee going. She went out and got a job so that she could pay her employee the difference on the wage subsidy. She has paid $10,000 a year for the last two years toward the debt, but she cannot afford to meet the deadline. She is on her way back up, but it is not fair to punish Chris Washington and Flandangles Kitchen and Gifts, which not only closed its doors to support public health but also supports our community. Wildflower Bakeshop and Cafe is in the same boat. They paid $5,000 toward their loan. In fact, the mayor of our community, who owns a restaurant, told me that there is not a restaurant she knows of that has been able to pay back the CEBA loan. I am asking the government this: Will it extend the full CEBA loan to the end of next year, with the full one-third nonrepayable portion, to December 31, 2024?
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Context: House Hansard - 144 - Dec/8/22
Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)
  • Dec/8/22 12:39:31 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there are a couple of things that the Conservatives have broken promises on. They broke a promise to bring in a price on carbon. They broke a promise to remove the GST on home heating, which is something they had in their last couple of campaigns. Then they brought forward a motion today that is unenforceable in many of the jurisdictions in this country. We need to have a real conversation. The member talked about the disconnect with the debt, but what she did not talk about is the disconnect with the record profits. We do not need experts. Everyday Canadians know that big corporations are having record profits in the hundreds of billions of dollars, and the government is not charging an excess profit tax like many countries. The U.K., Germany and other Conservative governments around the world have an excess profit tax. Germany also has a carbon tax, as does the EU, Japan, U.K., New Zealand, Sweden and Norway. When will the Conservatives get on board and understand that we need to make sure that some of those excess profits are returned to Canadians to help take the pressure off them?
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