Biz owners wait for cheques even as province boosts aid

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This article was published 07/01/2021 (2079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Listening to the same tune again and again isn’t new to Ray Giguere, but not when it comes from the provincial government, and not when it relates to his struggling business during a global pandemic.

“How am I supposed to listen to them or trust anything they say when they can’t even deliver a $5,000 cheque?”

The owner of a Winnipeg record and vinyl shop is frustrated after waiting nearly two months for emergency business assistance from the government, despite qualifying for a bridge grant in November.

Argy’s Records & Entertainment Shop had yet to receive any funding Thursday, the very day the province announced a second round of financial support for businesses. The St. Vital store remains shuttered under COVID-19 restrictions and has had meagre online and curbside sales.

“Now, I’ve just gotten used to hearing the same dial tone and automatic email replies when I reach out to the government folks every other day,” Giguere told the Free Press. “I have no choice but to keep waiting and listening to the same thing.”

Giguere is not the only business owner biding his time. Biz leaders worry several shops have “slipped through the cracks” after qualifying for support but not receiving a cheque, or failing to qualify for aid altogether.

“I’ve heard from hundreds of businesses that are barely getting by without any support,” said Jonathan Alward, Manitoba director for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. “Most of that’s because of the many asterisks placed on grants and loans, restricting people from accessing the funding.”

At a news conference Thursday, Finance Minister Scott Fielding joined Economic Development and Jobs Minister Ralph Eichler to address those concerns and provide an update about support payments to businesses.

They announced the province has paid out more than $180 million under several programs since last summer — including the Manitoba Bridge Grant, the Summer Student Recovery Jobs program, the Back to Work this Summer initiative, the Gap Protection program, and three other wage-subsidy programs.

Both ministers defended provincial offerings and repeated the Tory government’s talking points, but remained mum about whether those support programs — many of which have expired or are set to expire this month — will be extended, should COVID-19 restrictions continue.

“I can assure you that we’re offering the most generous support for our businesses across Canada,” said Fielding, using the same phrasing Premier Brian Pallister did last fall when he incorrectly touted Manitoba’s emergency programs as the “most generous” or “most effective” of all provinces. A Free Press comparison from coast to coast had shown that claim to be false.

“We don’t have a crystal ball to predict how restrictions will go,” said Eichler, “but we will continue listening to business groups about what they have to say based on the health orders, and help them as much as possible.”

But the apparent $180 million in spending is much less than the funding allocated to those programs — and the accuracy of that figure is subject to speculation.

According to provincial data, only $16.2 million has been paid out of the initial combined $120-million budget for the Back to Work in Manitoba, Back to Work This Summer and Student Wage Subsidy programs. Out of the Gap Protection program, $59 million has been paid from an earlier budget of at least $120 million.

Through the Manitoba Bridge Grant, the province says it has added $100 million “processed” payments within the overall $180 million in emergency payments to businesses so far. However, that $100 million includes a second stream of $5,000 cheques which the province has yet to notify qualified businesses about. (By mid-December, it had only paid out $31 million — which, within weeks, had tripled in “processed” payments.)

A provincial spokesperson told the Free Press the discrepancies can be attributed to a “shuffling of funds based on changing circumstances and programs that ran their course.”

The spokesperson said several other payments are underway, including $2.5 million through youth initiatives and a new $5-million restaurant relief program, which was launched with the Chambers of Commerce Wednesday. “And our second stream of the Bridge Grant is also locked and loaded, ready to go,” she said.

Reaction from opposition critics was swift Wednesday. “What we didn’t see was any new money,” NDP finance critic Mark Wasyliw told reporters. He said the government update was a rehash of previous announcements.

“There’s a habit with this government to release big, inflated numbers,” he said. “Then, when you actually look at program delivery and spending, it’s a fraction of what they actually claim.”

Fielding maintains, however, that funding has “flowed already or will flow tomorrow.”

“The needs of Manitobans continue to evolve,” he said. “We’re going have more to say on that next week.”

Twitter: @temurdur

Temur.Durrani@freepress.mb.ca