Amidst continued public debate on Canada’s post-pandemic future, the country’s Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has offered its own solution to the ongoing economic crisis. Helmed by CEO and president Dan Kelly, the small business lobby, boasting 110,000 members, has called for business bailouts and alternatives to lockdowns throughout the crisis.

When the pandemic first hit Canada, the lobby initially supported the Canadian Emergency Response Benefits (CERB) income benefit. The CFIB did, however, urge the government to include provision for the self-employed and special dispensation for employers to allow them to keep employees in receipt of the benefit at work.

In the spring of 2020, the CFIB changed tack. The lobby demanded the federal government curb CERB to push the unemployed back into workplaces. To give support to their position, the CFIB demonized CERB recipients, alleging abuse of the system on the part of claimants and supported a plan to criminalize “fraudulent” beneficiaries.