theBreaker.news Podcast: Vancouver's fair seeks federal wage subsidy fairness

For the week of Jan. 31, 2021:

The Trudeau Liberal government’s Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy was a key measure to save jobs during the pandemic downturn.

PNE president Shelley Frost (Mackin)

More than $59 billion has been paid to employers of all sorts whose revenue fell 15% or more on a year-over-year basis.

Some of the recipients of B.C.’s $6.8 billion are Ferrari Maserati of Vancouver, Royal Vancouver Yacht Club and LeHomes Realty. Even Lions Gate Risk Management, Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou’s security contractor, got the CEWS.

theBreaker.news found recipients reluctant to disclose the subsidy received or jobs they saved. 

Vancouver International Airport Authority told theBreaker.news it received $15.7 million to cover payroll. Great Canadian Gaming and Wall Financial told shareholders they received millions.

But the Pacific National Exhibition is left out in the cold because it is owned by Vancouver city hall. The fair did its best in 2020 to cut its losses to $10.5 million amid the myriad of public health restrictions. The PNE’s president says if it can’t get CEWS, the East Vancouver fairgrounds could go silent in 2022. 

“We have 110 years of history and tradition and I’m not willing to, in any way, step back and jeopardize that by being too quiet,” Frost told theBreaker.news Podcast host Bob Mackin. “We need to be able to offset some of those losses by recouping the wage subsidy, that will make or break us staying in business.”

Listen to Frost make the case for the PNE.

Also, highlights from the Cullen Commission on money laundering in B.C.

Plus headlines from the Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest.

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