NDP calls on province to eliminate `blind spot' in small-business relief

The Alberta NDP and owners of new small businesses are calling on the UCP government to help them survive the holidays amid COVID-19 pandemic.

Small businesses that set up shop recently don't qualify for the province's recently expanded relaunch grant of up to $20,000, or federal subsidies, because they don't have revenue statements to prove a drop in earnings.

“It's a blind spot,” said NDP MLA Rod Loyola at a Tuesday news conference, calling for the government to immediately allow new businesses to access $20,000, as well as create new rent and wage subsidy programs to fill the gaps left by federal programs.

Loyola said the efforts of new business owners to make it through the pandemic are heroic.

“Most of these new small businesses did not choose to open during COVID-19, but they had been planning to open months before COVID-19 actually hit Alberta,” he said.

While the government has no immediate plans to increase eligibility, Justin Brattinga, press secretary to Jobs, Economy and Innovation Minister Doug Schweitzer, said in an emailed statement it will be expanding supports to make sure new small- and medium-sized businesses are included in the new year.

“We will also continue to speak to our federal counterparts about adjusting their support programs to ensure all businesses are covered,” Brattinga said.

Ghizlane Malki, co-owner of Amandine Cafe in Edmonton, said at the NDP news conference she and business partner Fatima Zaid received a business licence in 2019 and invested more than $100,000 to open in June after COVID-19 restrictions were first lifted.

“We were set on not giving up,” Malki said, but the second wave discouraged customers, and they had to lay off all six members of their staff.

“We are now personally on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars just for the debt we will incur in this second lockdown. This is not fair ... we do not get the subsidies other businesses get.”

Hairstylist Jesse Harisany started operating as a sole proprietor and opened Black Magic Collective in May.

She joined the conference remotely via video, saying despite having six months of revenue, businesses like hers were being left behind.

We are now personally on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars just for the debt we will incur in this second lockdown.

“We are all trying to survive this pandemic, and those who have put in extra work to build something positive during this horrific time should not be quietly choked out and possibly forced to close because of it,” she said.

So far the provincial government has paid $130 million to small businesses, with more than 20,000 applicants being approved for the grant, including 10,000 for second payments.