Charlie Angus is continuing a call to extend the deadline for businesses to repay loans handed out during the pandemic.
During Question Period this week, the Timmins-James Bay MP renewed his call for the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) to be extended.
“The Prime Minister needs to do the right thing and work with business to come up with a better plan moving forward. We need to extend the deadlines and re-instate the loan forgiveness portion. Not doing so will result in some businesses closing their doors," said Angus in a news release.
During the pandemic, the federal government rolled out CEBA. It offered small businesses interest-free loans, including a $20,000 forgivable amount if the loan was repaid within a certain period. That deadline has been extended to Jan. 18, 2024.
While the government extended the deadline by 18 days, in October Canadian premiers wrote a joint letter urging the federal government to extend the loan forgiveness option by a year.
Angus says that paying back the loans in January will "kill" some businesses, noting that they've been hammered recently with the pandemic and inflationary pressures.
He argues that the program was "botched" from the start of it.
“It’s typical of this government to bring a plan forward and then make a mess of it. Offering CEBA loans was crucial to the survival of business but you must allow them time to make those payments. Not every business is a multi-million dollar empire," he said.
