Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland notes before speaking to the media, following a visit to a research and development unit in Calgary, Alta, on Thursday. Small business owners have appealed to the federal finance minister to look into more aid to pay off their pandemic-related debts, as the sixth wave of COVID-19 keeps customers staying home and sales falling. The request is one that Treasury Secretary Chrystia Freeland has repeatedly addressed in recent days during a post-budget tour. Her response was that emergency measures were no longer needed as the crisis passed, the economy warmed up and the government had to tighten its fiscal zone. Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Independent Business Federation, said under the headlines financial numbers only two out of five members say they have returned to normal sales. He said more were concerned about the impact on revenue and their ability to repay loans with people staying home, despite the provinces lifting restrictions on public health. Members voiced these concerns to Freeland during an online budget seminar, and Kelly said she left believing the finance minister had heard their concerns. The budget does not include further emergency program extensions that will be completed by May 7, but Freeland told those attending the online seminar, “I’m listening to you” when asked about debt relief, adding, “Let ‘s keep talking. “ CFIB members have, on average, raised $ 160,000 in pandemic-related debts, with about $ 60,000 of that coming from a key federal lending program. The government has set December 2023 as the deadline for repaying these loans with zero interest and a partial forgiveness benefit, although many small business owners believe it will take until 2024 to afford the repayments. “Yeah Al that sounds pretty crap to me, Looks like BT aint for me either. Yeah Al that sounds pretty crap to me, Looks like BT aint for me either. “Their nails are now deeper in debt,” Kelly said in an interview. “There were huge amounts of new spending on almost every line of the budget, and yet for any kind of business support, it was quite limited.” He said about three-quarters of CFIB members said they did not find the federal budget useful because of a lack of debt relief and another delay in promising to reduce the fees traders pay each time a buyer pays on credit. card. This budget promises to continue the consultation that was promised in last year’s budget, which was based on an election promise made by the Liberals in 2019. “I would love to be able to satisfy everything you think you would like to see the federal government do, but I recognize that I do not and will never do it,” Freeland told CFIB members. “What I’m going to tell you is that I’m always aware of when it comes to budgeting, when I’re promoting policies, I’m aware and thinking about what they mean for small businesses.” One positive Kelly saw in the budget was a promise to raise the threshold for small businesses to benefit from a lower tax rate, which she said should remove disincentives for small business growth.