Small businesses in Saint John are losing money every day as COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on the economy.
Charlie Hamilton, the owner of Diamond Taxi, has 80 employees. He says normally there are at least eight cars running during overnight shifts, but lately, it’s been down to two cars.
He says no matter what happens, he doesn’t want to pull his cars off the road.
“I’m just running. It’s a service to customers who are going to the hospital and it’s a service to people who are going out. I provide a service to people and that’s what it is,” Hamilton said.
He doesn’t consider deferring payments or interest on bills a solution because the money will still be owed at the end of May.
“I’m out there and the calls are down 70 per cent and I know what I can make when I drive, and what I used to make when I was driving, to what I’m making today with no cars left and there’s no money,” Hamilton said.
Premier Blaine Higgs announced Thursday that the estimated amount of workers who are suddenly unemployed are anywhere from 25,000 to 35,000 and the E.I. line is backed up.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business released a survey stating most small businesses wouldn’t last three months without government help while 30 per cent wouldn’t last a month.
As of March 26, any program a business owner can receive financial assistance from requires an application, which means they face denial of the program or an unknown waiting period for receiving those funds.
The federal and provincial governments are coming out with new programs and funds almost every day to help those dealing with the impact of COVID-19 whether they be financial, or health-wise.
The Government of New Brunswick announced a $4.5-million investment for recently unemployed workers to bridge the gap between when they lost their job or closed their business until the national benefit takes effect and ends on April 30. There’s also job protection for unpaid leave of up to 15 weeks for New Brunswickers who have COVID-19 or are caring for someone who does.
There has been an elimination of interest on WorkSafeNB assessment premiums for three months, as well as deferral of interest and principal payments on existing business loans with government departments for up to six months.
Small business owners can also borrow loans up to $200,000 without having to pay the principal on the loan for up to 12 months.
Even medium-sized to large employers can access working capital up to $25 million to manage the effects of COVID-19 on their operations.
This is on top of the provincial government waiving late penalties on business property taxes on a case-by-case basis due to undue financial challenges.
Beth Whalen manages a fast-food takeout restaurant in Saint John and is running what she calls a skeleton crew of staff, due to lack of hours available.
“We are lucky that we do have a bigger kitchen, so we can keep a good distance away from each other but we’re not filling the kitchen with too many people so the hours for our staff are dropping,” she said.
Whalen said the numbers are all halved and the majority of the people she sees are the people who are out working through the pandemic.
“As of right now, I’m fine, it depends on how this goes on. Like I said, everything right now is up in the air,” said Whalen.
“But I really do believe that our government, provincial and federal are doing what they can do.”
