Financial help ‘drop in the bucket’

Halifax restaurateur Lara Cusson says small businesses requiring immediate assistance to cope with the latest provincial shutdown were provided only a “drop in the bucket” by the provincial government last week.

“The public perception is that we're swimming in government grants and we're just not,” said Cusson, who operates Cafe Lara on Agricola Street.

“We didn't have a good summer last year,” Cusson said. “There are no tourists here. No one has been able to recoup the big loss since the beginning of the pandemic. Any government money we're getting, we're using it to pay our bills, we're not using it to develop our businesses and move them further ahead. We do need the help and we need it immediately.”

Cusson was among about 130 cross-sector signatories from across the province that fired off a letter to Premier Iain Rankin seeking help before last week's announcement and who drafted a response letter reflecting their disappointment with the May 4 announcement by Finance Minister Labi Kousoulis.

The business owners' frustrations were echoed Wednesday at a virtual meeting of the provincial legislature's public account committee to address the province's response and recovery plan for COVID-19.

“These concerns aren't new,” said Tim Halman, the Progressive Conservative representative for Dartmouth East and a committee member.

“Go back to the premier's state of the province address (April 7) ... the Halifax Chamber of Commerce indicated with respect to Budget 2021 that it provided no new money for supports for businesses impacted by the pandemic,” Halman said.

“These concerns are coming from major organizations, coming from individuals who are really struggling to put food on the table and really struggling to pay the bills. I hope that's not lost on anyone that we are talking about real livelihoods here.”

Halman asked department bureaucrats who were witnesses at the meeting how they respond to criticisms about the inadequacy of small business grants announced last week and budget provisions.

“The approach to date has been to try to integrate the provincial programs with the federal programs that exist,” said Scott Farmer, deputy minister of the Inclusive Economic Growth Department that last week trotted out more than $12 million in additional support for businesses hit hard by the pandemic and the recent shutdown.

“We've aimed to develop the programs to address the most-affected sectors and the ones affected by the public health order,” Farmer said, pointing to the restaurant industry, tourism accommodation operators and personal services businesses that have been disproportionately hard hit.

“There are businesses that are requesting that further steps be taken and what has been expressed previously by the premier and the minister of our department is that they will continue to respond,” Farmer said. “We're certainly hearing those concerns directly from businesses and we're undertaking a series of targeted meetings to understand that a little better over the next few days ... to inform what the next steps ought to look like.”

The group that Cusson is part of already has a clear picture of what next steps should look like.

In its written response to the Kousoulis announcement, the group said it fully supports the government's decision to again close their small business doors.

“Those doors are now closed and Nova Scotians are staying home,” the response reads. “However, the novelty related to curbside pickup, gift cards and waiting in lines for takeout from the first and second lockdown, have virtually disappeared.”

The group response says the government's impact grant, announced May 4 as part of the relief package, is “limited to 15 per cent of sales from April 2019 or February 2020 (typically a low business month), up to $5,000.

“In the case of a typical small business with an overhead of $60,000 per month, sales drops of 85 per cent are the norm,” the response states. “The impact grant covers 15 per cent of the loss, where do they find the other 70 per cent?”

Cusson emphasized the words “up to” in the provincial grants relief program, saying the number of operators getting $5,000 are few and far between.

“We are really dealing with cash flow and overhead issues,” said Cusson, who can seat 30 customers in her rented cafe space when fully open.

Cusson said few small businesses qualify for the federal programs and those that do still must pay their rents upfront and then wait until the end of that month to get a percentage rebated by the federal subsidy program.

The group's response stated it needs a program that works, saying the grant needs to be a flat payment of $10,000, “not up to, but $10,000 as a minimum payment to every business to ensure businesses can pay their property taxes, fees, rent, utilities, payroll and suppliers.”

Kelliann Dean, deputy minister of the finance department, explained to committee members during her opening statement that COVID-19 supports for 2020-21 totalled $773.9 million as of the March forecast. That number included operating expenses and stimulus dollars for buildings, highways and structures.

RYAN TAPLIN • THE CHRONICLE HERALD Lara Cusson, owner of Cafe Lara, poses outside her Agricola Street cafe last year. Cusson was happy about being able to reopen the cafe, but it has been closed again as a result of the recent provincial lockdown.