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That means roughly 16 per cent of working age Albertans are on CERB.
Other than making me sigh heavily and repeatedly, what are we to make of this program and this level of economic distress?
First, that the CERB succeeded at its main goals. As Carleton University professor Jennifer Robson points out in an interview, the CERB provided rapid relief to Canadians forced to stay home. It’s also helped folks whose businesses have been hammered hard.
“It has provided a really important cushion,” Robson says.
But CERB isn’t without major warts.
The program was meant to stabilize the economy by stabilizing household income, says Jason Clemens, executive vice-president of the Fraser Institute. You don’t want people making rash decisions because they’re suddenly desperate financially, as that could amplify the economic distress, he says.
But the CERB was poorly designed and often went to those who weren’t in need, Clemens says.
For example, the full $2000 CERB went to many youths who had been working part time and making as little as $450 each month and were still living at home.
Why should they make more due to the lockdown, Clemens asks?
Excellent question.
The government could have simply asked applicants how much money they made, so as not to pay them more than they were earning before, and also asked if they were a dependent living in a household with an income greater than $100,000, Clemens says.
Clemens estimates that one in four CERB dollars were paid to people whose need was questionable.
