….deep concern over the lack of support for self-employed individuals and sole-proprietors across Canada. In my home province of British Columbia, one-third of small businesses don’t believe they’ll qualify for the support that the government has given. This is especially true for businesses with less than 5 employees, of which nearly half don’t qualify for government support.
Several sole-proprietors have reached out to me personally for help because of the lack of assistance available to them. Many do not qualify for the business supports because they do not meet the payroll requirements, they rely on contract workers, are family-owned, or pay themselves in dividends. Your government has designed the current programs to exclude them. They cannot access the loan, wage-subsidy, or work-share programs. The only support they may qualify for is the individual CERB, which is not enough to get by with the overhead costs these businesses must continue to pay.
City TV NEWS: Rally outside Vancouver college protests sudden termination of key English program
Dozens of students and instructors gathered at Vancouver Community College (VCC) Tuesday to protest the unexpected shutdown of the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program.
LINC, which has helped thousands of immigrants learn English, secure jobs, and work toward citizenship, is set to be terminated at the end of March due to federal funding cuts.
The move has left over 800 students without a clear path forward and more than 30 instructors without jobs.
“We found out just before winter break, and this was the first opportunity to get people together to raise spirits, because people have been really down.” said Frank Cosco, president of the VCC Faculty Association.