The federal government is extending the Canada emergency response benefit (CERB) by one more month and revamping the employment insurance program to allow more people to receive financial assistance during COVID-19.
The suite of benefit reforms, aimed at helping Canadians through the transition as the economy gradually reopens, is expected to cost $37 billion.
Measures include greater flexibility on the work hours required for EI, making it easier for people to qualify for a one-year period.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough announced the new measures during a news conference in Ottawa Thursday afternoon.
“We’re doing our very best to support all Canadian workers and leave no one behind,” Qualtrough said.
CERB, which has already paid out more than $69 billion to more than 8.6 million recipients, will now be in place until Sept. 27, extending the program from six months to 28 weeks.
WATCH | $37B aid package includes CERB extension, new benefits:
The federal government has announced a $37-billion aid package that extends the CERB and expands EI benefits to help those still struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the deal requires the approval of Parliament, which is prorogued until late September. 2:01
CERB pays people $2,000 a month.
Canadians who were already eligible for EI will transition to that program when CERB winds down, while those who don’t qualify can apply for new “recovery” benefits.
Self-employed or gig workers, for example, can apply for a benefit of up to $400 a week for up to 26 weeks if they have stopped working or had reduced incomes due to COVID-19.
Under the new regime, they can continue to earn money, but will be required to repay 50 cents of every dollar earned above $38,000.
Sick leave benefit
A second new benefit will provide 10 days of paid sick leave to any worker in Canada who falls ill or has to self-isolate due to COVID-19. That will provide $500 a week, and a claimant can’t claim this benefit and another sick leave payment at the same time.
That program was negotiated with the provinces and territories under an agreement to restart the national economy safely.
A third benefit will support Canadians who must stay home to care for a child under 12 or another dependent because their school, daycare or other day program facility is shut down due to COVID. People who choose to keep their kids home even though the facility is open will not qualify, unless they provide proof there is a medical reason to do so such as an immunodeficiency disorder.
The three new recovery benefits, which will be taxed at payment, are expected to cost $22 billion. The extension of CERB another $8 billion and added EI costs are pegged at $7 billion, for a total of $37 billion.
Applications for the new recovery benefits are scheduled to open in October, with payments flowing in three to five days.
But the recovery benefits require parliamentary approval, and Parliament is currently prorogued until Sept. 23, when the House of Commons will begin a new session with a speech from the throne crafted by the Liberal government.
Package ‘the right thing to do’: Freeland
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said the suspension of Parliament will allow the government to focus on its post-pandemic economic recovery plan. Because the mandate has changed significantly since last fall’s election, Trudeau said it was also important to get a vote of confidence on the government’s agenda from the House of Commons.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the new aid package is the ‘right thing to do for Canadians.’ (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
Asked by a reporter if the government was showing contempt for Parliament by forcing a confidence vote before the benefits could flow, Freeland said the package is the “right thing to do for Canadians” and the other parties will have an opportunity to debate the plan.
“That is a really democratic approach and that’s where we’re taking it,” she said.
Liberals letting Canadians down: Conservatives
Conservative employment critic Dan Albas and Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre issued a joint statement calling it “unacceptable” that the Liberal government announced the changes just days after shutting down Parliament.
“Canadians have serious questions about this transition and how it will affect them. They deserve transparency and clear answers,” it reads.
“Millions of Canadians are still unemployed and eager to return to work. Businesses want to reopen and welcome back staff and customers. But instead of fixing their programs and outlining a plan to restart our economy, the Trudeau Liberals continue to let Canadians down.”
Conservative finance critic MP’s Pierre Poilievre, left, said it’s ‘unacceptable’ for the Liberals to announce the changes just days after shutting down Parliament. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
The NDP’s employment critic Daniel Blaikie also criticized the timing, noting the government waited until CERB had almost run out before making today’s announcement. Now with Parliament suspended, Canadians will have to wait another month to see if what the Liberals are promising will actually be delivered, he said.
“We are glad that the government listened to us on paid sick leave and extending CERB until the end of September, but we’re concerned that, instead of making desperately needed long-term changes to EI to help all Canadian workers, these changes are temporary,” Blaikie said.
In a statement, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said the content of the plan seems to meet the party’s demands, but “this legislation should have been passed before the prorogation of Parliament.”
“I warn the prime minister against the temptation to take workers and businesses hostage to force the adoption of the speech from the throne,” Blanchet said.
EI changes a ‘disincentive’: CFIB
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce welcomed the fact the measures were only for one year, and said the focus should be to safely restart the economy.
“Making these changes permanent would have seriously strained the government’s fiscal capabilities. We continue to advocate a growth-focused plan that will unlock economic capacity, fuel job creation and promote new business investment,” said chief economist Trevin Stratton in a statement.
“While we support the need to assist families and individuals through the current crisis, the Canadian Chamber believes our priority must be getting Canadians safely back to work and ensuring the country’s long-term prosperity.”
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) also urged the government to make sure the EI expansion measures are temporary, warning that any permanent step could have “massive unintended consequences” during ordinary times.
CFIB president Dan Kelly said the the biggest concern for small business owners is that some workers will now be able to collect EI benefits for up to 26 weeks after showing only 120 hours of work over the past year.
“This is just too low a bar and will serve as a disincentive for many part-time workers to return to their pre-COVID employment,” he said. “I expect that retail, hospitality, arts and recreation and service sector businesses – the very sectors hardest hit by the economic effects of COVID-19 – will struggle to bring back their part-time workforce. This will slow Canada’s economic recovery.”
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Employers and the union representing supervisors embroiled in a labour dispute that triggered a lockout at British Columbia’s ports will attempt to reach a deal when talks restart this weekend.
A spokesman from the office of federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon has confirmed the minister spoke with leaders at both the BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514, but did not invoke any section of the Canadian Labour Code that would force them back to talks.
A statement from the ministry says MacKinnon instead “asked them to return to the negotiation table,” and talks are now scheduled to start on Saturday with the help of federal mediators.
A meeting notice obtained by The Canadian Press shows talks beginning in Vancouver at 5 p.m. and extendable into Sunday and Monday, if necessary.
The lockout at B.C. ports by employers began on Monday after what their association describes as “strike activity” from the union. The result was a paralysis of container cargo traffic at terminals across Canada’s west coast.
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint against the employers for allegedly bargaining in bad faith, a charge that employers call a “meritless claim.”
The two sides have been without a deal since March 2023, and the employers say its final offer presented last week in the last round of talks remains on the table.
The proposed agreement includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term along with an average lump sum payment of $21,000 per qualified worker.
The union has said one of its key concerns is the advent of port automation in cargo operations, and workers want assurances on staffing levels regardless of what technology is being used at the port.
The disruption is happening while two container terminals are shut down in Montreal in a separate labour dispute.
It leaves container cargo traffic disrupted at Canada’s two biggest ports, Vancouver and Montreal, both operating as major Canadian trade gateways on the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
This is one of several work disruptions at the Port of Vancouver, where a 13-day strike stopped cargo last year, while labour strife in the rail and grain-handling sectors led to further disruptions earlier this year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Judicial recounts in British Columbia’s provincial election should wrap up today, confirming whether Premier David Eby’s New Democrats hang onto their one-seat majority almost three weeks after the vote.
Most attention will be on the closest race of Surrey-Guildford, where the NDP were ahead by a mere 27 votes, a margin narrow enough to trigger a hand recount of more than 19,000 ballots that’s being overseen by a B.C. Supreme Court judge.
Elections BC spokesman Andrew Watson says the recounts are on track to conclude today, but certification won’t happen until next week following an appeal period.
While recounts aren’t uncommon in B.C. elections, result changes because of them are rare, with only one race overturned in the province in at least the past 20 years.
That was when Independent Vicki Huntington went from trailing by two votes in Delta South to winning by 32 in a 2009 judicial recount.
Recounts can be requested after the initial count in an election for a variety of reasons, while judicial recounts are usually triggered after the so-called “final count” when the margin is less than 1/500th of the number of votes cast.
There have already been two full hand recounts this election, in Surrey City Centre and Juan de Fuca-Malahat, and both only resulted in a few votes changing sides.
A partial recount of votes that went through one tabulator in Kelowna Centre saw the margin change by four votes, while a full judicial recount is currently underway in the same riding, narrowly won by the B.C. Conservatives.
The number of votes changing hands in recounts has generally shrunk in B.C. in recent years.
Judicial recounts in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky in 2020 and Coquitlam-Maillardville in 2013 saw margins change by 19 and six votes respectively.
In 2005, there were a record eight recounts after the initial tally, changing margins by an average of 62 votes, while one judicial recount changed the margin in Vancouver-Burrard by seven.
The Election Act says the deadline to appeal results after judicial recounts must be filed with the court within two days after they are declared, but Watson says that due to Remembrance Day on Monday, that period ends at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
When an appeal is filed, it must be heard no later than 10 days after the registrar receives the notice of appeal.
A partial recount is also taking place in Prince George-Mackenzie to tally votes from an uncounted ballot box that contained about 861 votes.
The Prince George recount won’t change the outcome because the B.C. Conservative candidate there won by more than 5,000 votes.
If neither Surrey-Guildford nor Kelowna Centre change hands, the NDP will have 47 seats and the Conservatives 44, while the Greens have two seats in the 93-riding legislature.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
