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The next step, however, is for the province to step in with its answer to the requests business have been making to co-ordinate its response with elements such as deferral of provincial taxes, and pressure on the province to allow for delaying property tax payments, said Anita Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade.

Premier John Horgan said in a statement that he was pleased with some of the federal measures, especially those that extended benefits to self-employed and gig workers. The province will conduct “a full review of the federal package” and expand on that plan, but he didn’t specify when.

“In terms of support for business, all of this is good news,” Huberman said, but “I think it’s just the beginning.”

Huberman added that she is fielding a lot of calls from her members confused about how to access the programs that governments are announcing. There is “still confusion after the prime minister’s announcement this morning,” Huberman said.

However, how much the stimulus package helps the economy will depend on how sharply business drops off and how long the downturn lasts.

“The economy itself is going to fall into a pretty sharp contraction (this) quarter,” said Bryan Yu, chief economist for Central 1 Credit Union.

The federal measures include $3.8 billion to help small businesses, charities and non-profits keep paying employees by subsidizing 10 per cent of an employee’s wage for three months. It will max out at $1,375 per employee and $25,000 per business. That is a level that might be too low to be much of an incentive, said Iglika Ivanova, a senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

The measures are unprecedented and “very good,” Ivanova said, but “we need more. I have some concerns whether some of the most vulnerable people and businesses are going to get enough support.”

depenner@postmedia.com

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