QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
October 2, 2020
My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate and I am asking it on behalf of Senator Mockler.
We all know that COVID-19 is changing the landscape of our families and our small- and medium-sized companies. The challenges are monumental and create a lot of uncertainty. It is reported that in 2017, the hunting and fishing outfitting industry contributed nearly $2.7 billion to Canada’s GDP and supported over 37,000 jobs nationwide. In New Brunswick, the estimate for 2015 was around $145 million, employing many thousands of New Brunswickers. On the great Miramichi River, the Atlantic salmon alone contributes over $20 million and supports over 600 full-time equivalent jobs. The Restigouche River is in a very similar situation.
Can the Leader of the Government in the Senate advise the thousands of outfitters and guides in New Brunswick and across Canada who are facing closures and bankruptcies, which programs in Bill C-4 can they access in order to save their families’ livelihoods?
Thank you. Senator Mockler, if you are watching, thank you for the question. Your advocacy and commitment to the people of your province are legion and much appreciated by them, no doubt, and by all of us here in the chamber.
That the outfitting industry in Canada generally, and New Brunswick in particular, is suffering should come as no surprise to any of us. It relies, in part, on tourism and on travel between provinces. People flock to New Brunswick to take advantage of the marvellous opportunities to fish and hunt.
The government has announced a suite of measures to help small- and medium-sized businesses, and many of them have been described in this place. I’m not aware of what specific program might be available — or might even be in the works — to help in a more focused way the industry to which Senator Mockler refers and your question alludes, but I will take this up with Minister LeBlanc, who has important regional responsibilities in New Brunswick, as all senators know. Thank you for the question.
