CHNE produces weekly interviews with Cape Breton – Canso MP Mike Kelloway where community members can send in their questions for him. Today we ask about the Wage Subsidy and Social Assistance.

The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy for Family Members

A Chéticamp resident asked whether businesses employing family members are eligible for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy. The subsidy applies to businesses that lost at least 30% of their revenue due to COVID-19, and it would cover up to 75% of employees’ salaries on the first $58 700 earned.

Although it’s common practice for small business owners in the fishing and tourism sector to employ family members, they don’t qualify for this program. “We talked about gaps in the system and I think we’ve identified one,” Kelloway said. “At the moment it would be a no, but with an asterisk to say that all MPs have recognized that there is a lot of different seasonal work in particular that has brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers working, and in particular in the fishery. So literally, right now at the time of this taping, my executive assistant is working with Finance to provide them with what hopefully would be a made-in-Cape-Breton solution for Canada.”

Social Assistance

A community member asked why the federal government has offered so many financial aid packages to business owners and employees, yet so little help has been given to people with low income. The person who sent the question is on social assistance and said he’s received a total of $50 in the last three months. Meanwhile, other programs such as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, offer $2,000 a month for employees who’ve lost revenue due to COVID-19. 

The pandemic has been particularly difficult for people with low income. Because of disruptions to the supply chain and since everyone’s finances have suffered, the cheapest items are often sold out. People who regularly rely on those items can no longer access them.

Mike Kelloway acknowledged that more work needs to be done to help those with fewer resources. “I go back to looking at this from the totality of the whole series of measures that are going on today,” he said. “This is the 7th week now, I think, in terms of the government’s responding to the crisis. So now, we are at a point where we have to address these fundamental gaps. So, it is a gap.”

He also said that different levels of government need to work together on income support policy. “The provincial government, when it comes to social assistance, plays a fundamental role in, inevitably, the funding and the distribution of that money and the oversight of that money. … We’re looking at it from a federal perspective. I know the provincial government is looking at it. We have to come to a meeting of the minds in terms of collaboration to identify what measures should go up that are provincial and what measures should go up that are federal. So, I don’t have an answer for you yet other than it is absolutely not just on our radar, these are conversations that are happening with Finance federally and no doubt happening at Finance provincially.”