Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) says the threshold to receive the government’s new wage and rent subsidies is too high and could force some businesses to consider decreasing their revenues to meet the eligibility criteria.
Dan Kelly said he’s lobbying politicians, currently studying the Liberal’s new pandemic aid bill at the finance committee, to lower the bar to access the benefits and make support commensurate to revenue loss.
“The floor is now so high, that if you are just below that, you would easily do that math and say ‘wait a minute, I’m hustling to try to make every possible sale, I’m trying to hire as many people as I can, but I’m 35 per cent down and I get zero. If I don’t hustle so much, and my restaurant has a 40 per cent loss, I’ll get 40 per cent of my rent and 40 per cent of my wages covered by the government,’” Kelly told CTVNews.ca on Tuesday.
“This may be what [businesses] have to turn to.”
On Nov. 24, the government unveiled Bill C-2, which prolongs some and rejigs various other COVID-19 benefits. As part of that rejig was a change to the wage and rent subsidies, which have both gone through several makeovers throughout the course of the pandemic.
The Tourism and Hospitality Program provides a subsidy rate of up to 75 per cent to businesses that have seen an average monthly revenue reduction of at least 40 per cent over the first 13 qualifying periods of the wage subsidy program and a current-month revenue loss of at least 40 per cent.
Businesses that aren’t eligible for the Tourism and Hospitality Program can apply to the Hardest-Hit Business Recovery program if they can show an average monthly revenue reduction of at least 50 per cent and a current-month revenue loss of the same amount.
Previously, both subsidies were reflective of a sliding scale model, whereby the benefit was based on the percentage of revenue loss, including small losses.
“Up until the end of October, there was no minimum, so if you had even a five per cent revenue loss, you could get a two per cent subsidy…it was minor but it was commensurate to your losses,” he said.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the proposed legislation is supposed to be “targeted” and aimed at weaning recipients off support.
“I see this legislation as very much the last step in our COVID-19 support programs. It is what I really hope and truly believe is the final pivot,” she said on Nov. 24.
Kelly said he understands the motive behind the new benefits but it doesn’t change the fact that businesses are still struggling.
“Our data at CFIB shows that only 36 per cent of small business across Canada are at regular levels of sales. Almost two-thirds are below water,” he said.
The organization is proposing lowering the revenue drop benchmark to 10 per cent.
“I understand if they don’t want to go down to zero, but if they lower the bar so that all businesses would be able to qualify if they had a 10 per cent loss in revenue or more….that we believe is the better outcome,” he said.
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.