KENORA – Eric Melillo will be back in the House of Commons on Wednesday, April 29th to advocate for the Kenora riding.
“I’m heartened that even amidst this unprecedented public health crisis, parliamentary democracy will continue to function,” Melillo stated.
Members of Parliament have been working remotely from their ridings since the House of Commons was suspended in mid-March. The Official Opposition lobbied strenuously for Parliament to resume last week, arguing that sittings were needed to hold the government to account. In order to preserve social distancing in the House, smaller groups of MPs are returning according to a rotation.
Conservative Plan for Small Business proposed.
Resuming sittings will enhance the ability of the Opposition to fight for their constituents and advocate for improved supports for Canadians. The Conservative Party has already successfully advocated for an increased wage subsidy for businesses, and after weeks of pressure from the Opposition, the government finally announced measures to help students who are unable to find work but don’t qualify for the CERB.
Melillo says he has spoken to many constituents who are not eligible for some of the new COVID-19 benefits, or for whom the new measures are not sufficient to keep their businesses afloat.
“Seasonal workers and the tourism industry have been particularly hard hit,” he adds.
The Conservative Opposition has been lobbying for additional measures that would help more Canadians get more support, faster. These proposed measures include:
- Help with immediate cash flow;
- Refunding the past six months’s GST remittances to small businesses
- Backstopping banks that extend low interest loans to small businesses
- Allowing business owners to keep all source deductions and apply them to the $75,000 wage subsidy;
- Temporarily allowing owner-operators to become wage-earning employees instead of dividend recipients so that they qualify for the wage subsidy;
- Allowing businesses to demonstrate revenue loss using other metrics such as loss of earnings, subscriptions, or orders.
The Conservatives have also been calling for specific supports for the restaurant, hospitality, and tourism sectors.
“I look forward to getting back into the House of Commons this week to advocate for the Kenora riding, and the many families, businesses, and individuals here who are struggling,” Melillo says.
