“We don’t believe that tenants should have these costs passed on to them by landlords. We will temporarily remove the speculation and vacancy tax liability for 2020 for property owners that meet certain conditions,” said Robinson. “Both property owners and tenants can now apply for the remission to ensure the people we are trying to help, the tenants, don’t have to wait for the owner to apply.” Robinson said fewer than 65 properties, most of them in Vancouver, are affected by the new measure, which targets landlords who were able to classify their commercial properties as residential, with the understanding they would be developing a residential component in the unbuilt airspace above the buildings.
“The federal government has done what they believe is enough and we’ll be left to fill the gaps,” Horgan said during an unrelated news conference Tuesday. “We asked them to fix it, they haven’t, and now we’re stepping up,” he said. “I don’t want to sound overly whiny about this but … we didn’t get the program we needed at the time we needed it. [The federal government has] done a lot of great things in the last 14 months, but this isn’t one of them.” The province was working on a provincial sick-leave program last summer and “we’ve taken those [plans] off the shelf,” Horgan said.
COVID-19: Premier Horgan says BC working on its own sick-leave program canada.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from canada.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
VICTORIA The British Columbia government is expanding its grant program for businesses hit hard by the latest round of COVID-19 restrictions in the province. The government announced Monday it would provide an additional $75 million to businesses that were forced to close or curtail their operations since the latest round of public health orders took effect on March 31. The province says its Circuit Breaker Business Relief Grant program will now provide $100 million to approximately 14,000 restaurants, bars, breweries, wineries, gyms and fitness facilities across B.C. The grants will also provide $25 million to approximately 5,300 hotels, motels and short-term accommodation businesses affected by the travel restrictions, the province announced Friday.
COVID-19: Premier Horgan says BC working on its own sick-leave program vancouversun.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from vancouversun.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.