Many of you have contacted my office during the pandemic requesting information on financial supports. I would encourage you to visit the following websites to keep up to date with the latest COVID-19 information and supports: www.alberta.ca/covid19 and www.canada.ca/covid-19. I want to thank the offices of MP’s Pat Kelly and Michelle Rempel Garner, and Councillors Joe Magliocca and Jyoti Gondek, for their continued support to my office during this time.
I have received many requests for support for rent relief for small businesses. I am pleased to let you know that the new Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program will provide a loan retroactive to April 1st to qualified commercial property owners. CECRA will also be available to non-profit and charitable organizations. The province expects to commit up to $67 million, with the remaining and majority of costs being covered by the federal government. I encourage property owners to please provide flexibility to your tenants facing hardship in this uncertain time.
The past few months I have participated in several cultural virtual town halls with Dr. Hinshaw, Chief Medical Officer, who I applaud in keeping our communities connected and informed of the latest information on COVID-19, and the work being done to protect Albertans. Thank you to my constituents for their participation in the town halls.
I want you to know that child care is now available to the children of all essential workers, as well as active military personnel. The full list of those workers is available on alberta.ca/covid19 and includes critical infrastructure workers, frontline healthcare workers and many other professions.
Alberta’s phased relaunch strategy to reopen businesses and services to get people back to work can be found at: https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-relaunch-strategy.aspx
As always, it is my honour to serve as your MLA.
