Just as there’s no crying in baseball, no “I” in team and no place like home, there is no such thing as a free lunch.
Many lenders would say that’s a pretty good deal – maybe not a free lunch but a nicely discounted one. But it isn’t sweet enough for some business owners, who are asking Ottawa to extend the interest-free provision or even forgive a greater portion of these loans. This is needed especially, some businesses say, because the enterprises that stepped up to the CEBA trough are more likely to be owned by women and marginalized groups.
virus. No one wants to see businesses go down. And there’s no question the pandemic hurt small businesses, especially those in service sectors hit by government lockdowns. Ultimately, this is about accountability and personal responsibility. There is an obligation – contractual and moral – to repay CEBA loans according to the terms set out by Ottawa. By refusing to pay, paying less than agreed to or extending interest-free repayment schedules out several years, loan holders are basically picking their neighbours’ pockets.
Also, the notion that businesses should get preferential treatment based on the gender or ethnicity of their owners smacks of social engineering. Is the inference that had many of those struggling businesses not been owned by women or racialized people they should be denied this latitude?