‘Desperate’ Halifax Small Business Owners Call For More Provincial Support
HALIFAX — Small business owners in Nova Scotia are demanding more support from the provincial government as they face “desperate” circumstances brought on by the recent provincial lockdown.
In late April, the province put strict restrictions on businesses to help control the spread of Covid-19. For many, it was the third time they had been forced to close since the pandemic began.
Over the past year, small business owners have largely been on board with the government’s handling of Covid-19. It’s been tough, and some businesses were forced to close permanently, but most were able to weather lockdowns and stay in decent spirits.
But as Café Lara owner Lara Cusson says, this time things are different. And many feel like the government isn’t doing enough to help.
On May 11, Cusson told Huddle most small businesses have been falling further behind every month as they struggle to pay overhead costs with significantly reduced bu.
“People have just been getting by,” she explained.
But falling case counts and the coming summer had offered both emotional and financial hope. Then, business owners were hit with a very sudden and very strict lockdown as the third wave surged.
Restaurants were left with thousands of dollars of food they couldn’t serve. Retailers had Mother’s Day merchandise they couldn’t sell. Meanwhile, cash reserves are drying up.
“We’re trying to look ahead and we’re going okay, how much cash flow do I have over the next two months? How long can I go on keeping my lights on without any customers?” Cusson said.
“The situation is dire and it’s urgent. It’s a lot more urgent this time.”
Cusson said the relatively meager Small Business Impact Grants the provincial government has offered as support amount to “peanuts across the board. It’s not enough for survival.”
On Friday, a group of associations representing more than 4,000 businesses called on the provincial government to do more.
Michelle Champniss is the executive director of the Sackville Business Association, one of the organizations that made the demand.
She told Huddle the current grants, which max out at $5,000 but for many businesses end up being much less, “just aren’t enough.”
“When we look at businesses and we look at their fixed costs: their rent, their water, their power, other things that they need to pay regardless of whether they’re open or closed, in most cases $5,000 is not going to come anywhere close to covering even one month of fixed costs,” she said.
Champniss said it’s been “a very long year for businesses” and the financial and emotional impacts are beginning to take their toll.
“It’s hard financially, but it’s also hard emotionally,” she said. “They have their business but they also have their home, their mortgage, they have their children to feed… It’s very personal, it’s very difficult for them and they’re having to make some really tough choices for the third time in a year.”
“Small business owners are parents, we have kids, we have mortgages. And if we’re having to choose between our business rent, and supporting our family, what are we to do? People are really in desperate situations,” Cusson adds.
The business associations are calling on the government to “significantly increase” the size of its Small Business Impact Grants and include retail businesses in its property tax rebate program.
Cusson thinks the government should immediately pay every small business’ Nova Scotia Power bill (“that’s something that could be done overnight,” she said) and make its Small Impact Grants a minimum of $10,000 each.
“I think if [Premier] Iain Rankin spent half an hour with any small business, we could have this thing figured out,” Cusson said.
She also had a message for the premier.
“It’s up to you if we’re going to stay in business, it’s up to you to put us out of business. It is all your decision.”