Lobbyists slipping through cracks of Lobbying Act: commissioner By Aidan Chamandy. Published on Jun 15, 2021 4:11pm Lobbying Commissioner Nancy Bélanger, pictured in December 2017, says the Lobbying Act needs to be updated. (Matthew Usherwood/iPolitics)
The latest high-profile investigation to reveal the Lobbying Act’s shortcomings demonstrates that the legislation still needs a parliamentary review, says Canada’s lobbying watchdog.
“What we’ve seen in the last year, with the studies that have been made (and) the reports that have been issued, (is that) it is important that we now take the time to review the Act,” Lobbying Commissioner Nancy Bélanger told iPolitics on Tuesday.
S
ectors: The Trust has decided that it would strategically focus its near-term acquisition efforts on the industrial and multi-residential sectors across Canada by reducing its exposure to its non-core retail assets. In this regard, we have initially identified 13 non-core retail assets for disposition and have transferred approximately $20 million from our core portfolio to “Assets Held for Sale”. To date three properties have been sold and the remaining 10 are under contract and are expected to close through 2021. The program is ongoing and we expect the identification of further non-core retail assets for sale and redeployment into the industrial and multi-residential sectors as the year continues.
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The Canadian Federation of Independent Business is warning that more than 239,000 businesses could vanish because of COVID-19 as the new wave of restrictions and lockdowns leave a growing number of entrepreneurs considering giving up.
New research from the small-business lobby group based on a survey of 4,129 of its members last week found that nearly 18 per cent were considering bankruptcy or shutting their business down for good. Extended across the country’s 1.1 million businesses – the vast majority of which are small or medium-sized – the federation said that 181,000 firms could be under threat, according to adjusted projections. That’s in addition to the 58,000
Bill 229 (
Protect, Support and Recover from COVID-19 Act
(Budget Measures),
2020) received Royal Assent on
December 8, 2020. Bill 229 essentially extended the moratorium
originally imposed under Bill 192 (
Protected Small Business
Act, 2020) (as extended under Bill 204 (
Helping Tenants
and Small Businesses Act,
2020)). The moratorium
under Bill 229 applies to tenancies where the landlord: (i) was
eligible (or would be eligible) to receive assistance under the
Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance Program
( CECRA ); (ii) is receiving or has received assistance
under CECRA; (iii) would be eligible to receive assistance under
CECRA if the landlord entered into a rent reduction agreement with
its tenant containing an eviction moratorium; or (iv) would have