At a campaign stop in Delta Thursday morning, Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson said his party would provide hope for small businesses facing uncertain times because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Joining Wilkinson for the announcement was Liberal candidate for Delta South Ian Paton as well as Liberal candidate for Delta North Jet Sunner.
The announcement, held at Tsawwassen’s X-Treme Clothing Boutique, first introduced the Liberal party’s promise to permanently eliminate the two per cent small business income tax.
“This will have a real impact on the bottom line of businesses so they can reinvest, hire more people and get on with the business of trying to be successful in this tough economy,” Wilkinson said.
Wilkinson also announced that if a Liberal government were to be elected, bridge financing in the form of a loan guarantee program, would be provided to more than 19,000 tourism and hospitality businesses in B.C.
“What they need is the financing to keep themselves alive over the winter and hopefully we'll have a vaccine in 2021 so they can come back to life and get on with their business,” he said.
Also mentioned was the previously announced year-long hiatus of the provincial sales tax (PST) with Wilkinson saying he was willing to forgo the approximately $220 million historically generated to “turbocharge” small business.
When asked when these programs would roll out, Wilkinson said they would be a 'top priority' if a Liberal government would be elected.
He went on to say he has heard from tourism business operators who have told him they will be making the hard choices by Christmas.
