The federal government is looking to offer supports for the beleaguered tourism industry, but Prime Minister Trudeau came short of making any promises ahead of the expected federal budget.
Trudeau spoke with The Guardian Tuesday morning by phone ahead of a conversation with Premier Dennis King later in the day.
Speaking about a potential tourism bailout, the prime minister cited efforts made by the federal government since the beginning of the pandemic to support small businesses and mentioned larger tourism supports in the Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program (HASCAP) Guarantee.
“There are going to be lots of different things in the budget, including lots of support for Canadians and that’s something we’re going to continue to make sure is right in partnership with provinces like P.E.I.”
“There are going to be lots of different things in the budget, including lots of support for Canadians and that’s something we’re going to continue to make sure is right in partnership with provinces like P.E.I.”
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
The HASCAP guarantee provides loans ranging from $25,000 to $1 million for small and medium-sized businesses that have seen their revenues decrease by 50 per cent or more as a result of COVID-19.
The other existing supports for small businesses, like wage subsidies and the Canada Emergency Business Account — which provides interest-free loans up to $40,000 to Canadian businesses and not-for-profits — will continue to support Canadian business to the extent that they have been throughout the pandemic, but as the tourism season draws near, more discussion with the provinces will be necessary, said Trudeau.
“So, we’ll look, as things start to reopen, we’ll look at what is needed to get things back on their feet as quickly and as safely as possible and we’ll continue to work with the province on that."
BIG/UBI
The federal government isn’t ruling out a universal basic income (UBI) pilot in P.E.I., though it's implementation would require careful discussion with the province, said Trudeau.
“There have always been great ideas around a UBI, but there are real policy challenges around bringing it in the right way to actually have it be effective and that’s something, again, that always requires ongoing work and conversations.”
Late last year, the provincial government’s special committee on poverty’s final report recommended the implementation of a basic income guarantee (BIG).
A BIG is an anti-poverty program where all adults below a certain income threshold would be given a no-strings-attached government cheque.
The report recommended that with federal support, a full-scale rollout of a BIG would involve as many as 50,238 Islanders — 39 per cent of the population — and would cost $260 million per year.
The report also provided an option for a smaller pilot project in the event the federal government declined to partner with P.E.I.’s government. This smaller scale effort would involve between 3,073 and 4,176 Islanders, with a cost between $19.5 million and $26.5 million per year.
At least two Island MPs — Sean Casey and Wayne Easter — and three Island senators — Diane Griffin, Brian Francis and Mike Duffy — are in support of a BIG pilot program of some sort on the Island.
Premier King also came out in support, saying in December that P.E.I. “could be a good laboratory.”
Trudeau told The Guardian he expects the topic to come up in his conversation with King.
“There’s a lot of work being done on different models of universal basic income and I’m always, of course, open to listening to requests for partnerships or pilot projects from provinces.”
Fisheries and defence
When asked about what the federal government is doing to address the ongoing moderate livelihood fisheries disputes in Atlantic Canada and if the federal government has made any headway in defining moderate livelihood, Trudeau said his government is working on striking a balance between Indigenous and commercial fishers.
“It’s not a question of wondering if or whether, it’s a question of working with the community to make sure it happens in the right way for everyone and that’s the discussions and the negotiations that are ongoing with the Mi’kmaq right now.”
Of course, those discussions may be difficult as Sipekne’katik filed a lawsuit in Nova Scotia’s Supreme Court against the Nova Scotia government in February. The lawsuit came after negotiations between federal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan and Sipekne’katik Chief Mike Sack broke down last year after three months of discussion.
Recently, Canada’s defence chief Admiral Art McDonald has voluntarily stepped down as he is investigated by the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service on unspecified misconduct allegations only two months into the role.
Weeks before, his predecessor General Jonathan Vance also came under investigation over allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
Trudeau again did not offer specifics on what the government was doing to address the issues within the military, but acknowledged there is more to be done.
“Obviously, these very serious allegations at the very highest levels indicate that we’re going to need to do more and we will continue to do more.”
