Report from Parliament Hill:

Back in the House of Commons

Eric Melillo - Kenora Riding MP

Dear Constituents,
I’ll be back in the House of Commons on Wednesday, April 29th to advocate for the Kenora riding.
Members of Parliament have been working remotely from their ridings since the House of Commons was suspended in mid-March. As the Official Opposition, we lobbied strenuously for Parliament to resume last week, to allow us to fight for our constituents when they need it most.
In order to preserve social distancing while we sit in the House, smaller groups of MPs are returning according to a rotation. I’m heartened that even amidst this unprecedented public health crisis, parliamentary democracy will continue to function.
As the Official Opposition, the Conservative Party has been urging the government to introduce more supports for Canadians. For instance, we successfully fought for an increased wage subsidy for businesses. And after weeks of pressure from myself and my Conservative colleagues, the government finally announced measures to help students who are unable to find work but don’t qualify for the CERB. I look forward to reviewing that legislation, and to standing up for students and new grads trying to enter the workforce.
My staff and I have spoken with countless constituents to keep them up-to-date on new programs that may help their businesses and their families stay afloat. Unfortunately, there are still many individuals and businesses who are not being helped by the current measures. That’s why the Conservative Party has been proposing additional measures that would help more Canadians get more support, faster.
Among other policies, we’ve been urging the government to help with immediate cash flow; to refund GST remittances to small businesses; to backstop banks that extend low interest loans to small businesses; to allow business owners to keep all source deductions and apply them to the $75,000 wage subsidy; to temporarily allow owner-operators to become wage-earning employees instead of dividend recipients so that they qualify for the wage subsidy; and to allow businesses to demonstrate their revenue loss using other metrics such as loss of earnings, subscriptions, or orders.
We have also been calling for specific supports for the restaurant, hospitality, and tourism sectors, which have been very hard-hit.
I look forward to getting back into the House of Commons this week to advocate for the Kenora riding, and the many families, businesses, and individuals here who are struggling.
As always, if there is anything my office can assist you with, please do not hesitate to contact us by phone at 807-468-2170 or by email at eric.melillo@parl.gc.ca.