The #coronavirus lock down is destroying our economy and shredding small businesses.

How bad is it out there?

According to a report in Blacklock’s, the finances of Canadians were already in big trouble BEFORE the coronavirus lock down robbed us of our freedom and our jobs. For example, 36% of Canadians indicated they are struggling to manage their day-to-day finances or pay their bills and 17% said their monthly spending exceeds their income. Further, 27% said they borrow to buy food or pay daily expenses.

A survey of small businesses done by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business found that 58% of small businesses will not be able to pay May rent in full without further assistance. That's up from 25% in April.

An Abbotsford News report from May 4 found that 7.3 million Canadians have received the Canadian Emergency Relief Benefit while 1.7 million workers have received money from the wage subsidiary, as more than 96,000 businesses applied. That's more than nine million Canadians on some form of emergency government assistance right now.

The food supply is in jeopardy, too. The Financial Post reports that because of the coronavirus-caused shutdown of 7 meat packing plants, 100,000 slaughter ready cattle are backlogged, costing farmers and feedlot operators hundreds of millions of dollars. More than 90,000 pigs will likely have to be culled. This catastrophe could cause the loss of 15% of Canadian farms this year.

There is no relief in sight. The Prime Minister has defended the 5.8 million dollars in coronavirus social distancing violation fines. He hiked the carbon tax by 50% on April 1. Liberals' carbon tax and its economic impact on Canadian families is so bad the Liberals refused to tell us, saying that information is top secret.

And Trudeau is giving our money to the crooks at the World Health organization who got us in this mess in the first place with their bad advice.

There's only one way out of this mess. We have got to get Canadians back to work.

Canadians are rallying all across the country for the dignity of work — in Edmonton, Toronto, and Vancouver. Let's help them put the pressure on politicians all across the country.

We've got a petition and it's simple. Just let us work. To sign it, go to LetUsWork.ca.

It’s time to find a way to open up the country, safely. We've done our part. We flattened the curve. It's not as bad as they said it would be. We did what the politicians asked.

Now let us work.