Feds unveil $37B CERB transition plan, setting up new sickness and care benefits - CTV News

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Feds unveil $37B CERB transition plan, setting up new sickness and care benefits – CTV News

Published

4 years ago

August 20, 2020

OTTAWA —
The federal government is extending the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) into September, before transitioning the millions of people who are still claiming CERB onto a revamped Employment Insurance program starting Sept. 27.

The new plan released Thursday details how most people will be transitioned onto EI, though three new temporary benefits are also being established, including a form of paid sick leave. In total, these new financial assistance plans are budgeted to cost at least $37 billion over the next year.

Chrystia Freeland—making her first announcement as Canada’s finance minister—alongside Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Carla Qualtrough, are speaking to the plan for next phase of the recovery.

While the economic reopening has seen millions back on the job, there are still millions of unemployed Canadians, particularly in harder-hit industries that are set to take longer to bounce back from COVID-19’s impact.

While CERB was set to run out at the start of the month for those who have been on the program from the outset, the government is extending the program by an additional four weeks, to a maximum of 28 weeks.

Then, as of Sept. 27, almost all CERB claimants who qualify for Employment Insurance will be transitioned onto that program as their avenue for support once their 28 weeks of CERB run out.

“With an overall objective to support economic recovery, the announcement follows an approach that provides support to workers while strengthening work incentives, facilitates access to the EI program and enhances equity,” said one senior official speaking with reporters on a not-for-attribution basis in outlining the new plan.

For most, this transition will be automatic but the government says there will be “a few instances” where applications will need to be filed, and those people are being contacted.

The EI system itself is getting a facelift, opening up the criteria for the next year to make it so that Canadians with 120 insurable hours across Canada can apply and receive a minimum payment of $400 per week, and a maximum of $573 per week, depending on past earnings.

The reworked EI can be claimed for between 26 and 45 weeks, depending on time worked prior.

EI claimants can earn income, but will have their benefits adjusted, reducing their benefit by $0.50 for each dollar of earnings. The government is also freezing the EI premium rate for two years, as typically it would be set to increase, raising costs for workers and employers.

The intent of the longstanding program remains: as a financial aid to employees who involuntarily lose their jobs and are actively looking for work.

These changes are able to be implemented through regulation through interim ministerial orders, though the three new benefits are going to be delivered through legislation, which will have to wait to be tabled until after Parliament resumes on Sept. 23 given the current prorogation.

On Tuesday, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the prorogation, he signalled his intent to come back with a throne speech outlining bold new policy moves responding to the inequities exposed in Canada’s social supports and economic system.

“It will take time to make up the economic ground we’ve lost to this pandemic. It will take hard work to fix these gaps… We’ve supported Canadians with a huge emergency response to make sure that everyone could cope during this time. We’ve carefully and successfully reopened many parts of the economy. Now we also need to look to the future,” Trudeau said.

THREE NEW BENEFITS

In addition, the federal government is launching three new benefits meant to target specific reasons why Canadians may be out of work or in need of financial aid. These will also come into effect on Sept. 27. These benefits are also taxable, meaning the tax will be deducted from the payments.

The trio are projected to cost $22 billion.

The first is being called the “Canada Recovery Benefit” and will be available for 26 weeks to workers who are self-employed, gig or contract workers, or otherwise not EI eligible but still cannot return to work.

In order to qualify for this $400-a-week program, Canadians must be looking for work and had stopped working or had their income reduced due to COVID-19. Workers will need to repay $0.50 of every dollar earned above an annual net income of $38,000 through their income tax return.

A new “Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit” is being created for those who don’t already have paid sick leave through their employer, to make it easier for people to stay home from work when they are sick or have to self-isolate due to COVID-19, without worrying about their income.

This benefit will provide $500 per week, for up to two weeks, which remains the current time frame required for Coronavirus isolation. It cannot be claimed if the employee has paid sick leave through their workplace.

The federal government has previously spoken about ongoing talks with the provinces and territories to ensure that every worker in Canada who needs it can access 10 days of paid sick leave a year, a concern more important than ever to reduce the spread of the virus by making it possible for anyone who isn’t feeling well to stay home.

And the third new program is a “Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit” providing help in the instances where someone needs to stay home to care for a loved one such as a child under the age of 12 or a dependent because schools, daycares, or other care facilities are closed due to the pandemic.

This program offers up to 26 weeks per household, with just one adult per household able to claim the program at a time, and provides $500 a week. It can only be used when facilities are closed and not because people “prefer” to keep their loved ones at home.

SMOOTH TRANSITION PROMISED

In late July, the government first signalled that this change was coming, announcing after months of work the newly-strengthened EI system was ready to handle thousands more applications than pre-pandemic. Officials said $7 billion is estimated to be the cost associated with the changes to EI, not counting the payments that will be made.

Qualtrough has committed that when the CERB cycle expires in September, moving the up to four million Canadians who still need support onto EI will happen without a disruption to their payments.

In mid-September a new webpage will launch, facilitating access to these new benefits when their application windows open.

Since March 15, CERB has paid $69.37 billion in benefits to 8.61 million unique applicants, and so far, 4.1 million applicants have returned to work. The extension of CERB by another month is set to add an additional $8 billion on to the total cost of the program.

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GTA gas prices to jump 14 cents a litre – Toronto Sun

Published

9 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Harry Miller

Gas prices have not been this high since August 2022

Published Apr 17, 2024 • Last updated 3 hours ago • 1 minute read

HST is applied to the cumulative amount at the pump, including the actual gasoline price, the provincial gasoline tax, the federal excise tax and the carbon tax. Photo by Postmedia Network /file photo

There’s a price shocker coming at the pumps.

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Gas in Ontario, including the GTA, will go up 14 cents a litre overnight for customers filling up on Thursday, says Dan McTeague, the president of Canadians for Affordable Energy.

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“So going from $1.65.9 (per litre) going to $1.79.9,” said McTeague adding the increase will affect the entire province except for northwestern Ontario, which gets its prices from the prairies market.

“That’s the highest level since August, 2022, almost two years ago,” he added.

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McTeague said the reason for the price hike is that stations are switching over to summer-blend gasoline.

“Around this time of year prices go up to reflect the new blend of gasoline, which is more expensive to make,” he explained. “Butane is used in the winter, for gasoline, whereas in the summer it’s alkyaltes. Alkyaltes are extremely expensive.”

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“In the winter you want your ignition to start quickly in cold temperatures, you uses volatile butane. You take that out in the summer. That’s a big difference. This is going to be around for awhile and it could get higher,” McTeague said.

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Wildfire sparked by TC Energy pipeline rupture under control – Yahoo Canada Finance

Published

10 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Harry Miller

CALGARY — A wildfire in west-central Alberta that was sparked by a natural gas pipeline rupture is under control, but an investigation into what caused the pipeline to break could take months or even years.

As of Wednesday morning, there was very little fire activity left in Yellowhead County, where a 10-hectare fire burned on Tuesday about 40 kilometres northwest of Edson.

“But for it to be considered extinguished, we’re going to have to hot spot,” said Caroline Charbonneau, area information co-ordinator with Alberta Forestry and Parks.

“That means we’ll have to dig into the ground, look and feel for hot spots, and then douse it with water. And that could take several days.”

The fire on Tuesday, which occurred as much of Alberta is dealing with extremely dry early spring conditions, was sparked when a natural gas pipeline owned by TC Energy Corp. ruptured.

There were no injuries, and the fire was never a threat to any surrounding communities. The affected pipeline segment was isolated and shut in and there is no more gas leaking from the pipeline.

The Canada Energy Regulator had inspectors on site Wednesday to monitor the company’s response and the Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.

According to CER, there have been 12 natural gas pipeline ruptures in Canada since 2008, and Tuesday’s incident near Edson was the first rupture on that particular pipeline within that time period.

The 36-inch diameter pipe that ruptured is part of TC Energy’s NGTL pipeline system, which transports natural gas from Alberta and northeast B.C. to domestic and export markets. The system spans 24,631 kilometres and connects with TC Energy’s Canadian Mainline system, Foothills system and other third-party pipelines.

The NGTL pipeline system is like a web made up of different lines that have been developed in stages.

In 2022, there was a rupture on a separate part of the system that resulted in an explosion and fire near Fox Creek, Alta. There were no injuries.

A TSB investigation into that incident took more than 14 months, and concluded that the pipeline ruptured due to reduced pipe wall strength caused by external corrosion.

While the primary risk of a crude oil pipeline leak is an oil spill that harms the local ecosystem, natural gas pipeline ruptures can and do result in fires or explosions, said Bill Caram, executive director of the Pipeline Safety Trust, a U.S.-based non-profit organization.

“The chances are extremely high that a molecule of natural gas that enters a pipeline will go through that pipeline without a failure. Pipelines are quite safe, and when you look at incident rates compared to other modes of transportation like rail or truck, they are much less likely to have a failure,” Caram said.

“But what you don’t get a sense of by looking at the risks of pipelines in that way is how catastrophic a failure can be when it does happen.”

According to the TSB, there were 19 recorded incidences of fires related to pipelines in Canada between 2012 and 2022.

The TSB’s most recent report on pipeline transportation safety in Canada states that in 2022 there were 100 companies transporting either oil or gas or both in the federally regulated pipeline system, which includes approximately 19,950 km of oil pipelines and approximately 48,700 km of natural gas pipelines.

That year, there were 67 pipeline transportation accidents and incidents on federally regulated pipeline systems, according to the report.

That number was well below the 10-year average of 112 occurrences, and was also the lowest number of occurrences since 2019, when 52 pipeline accidents or incidents were recorded by the TSB.

The TSB defines a pipeline “accident” as an incident that results in a person being injured or killed, a fire or explosion, or significant damage to the pipeline affecting its operation.

Less severe pipeline events that involve the uncontrolled release of a commodity or a precautionary or emergency shutdown are classified by the TSB as “incidents.”

There have been no fatal accidents directly resulting from the operation of a federally regulated pipeline system since the inception of the TSB in 1990.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRP)

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press

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Pearson airport gold heist: Police announce 9 arrests – CTV News Toronto

Published

11 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Harry Miller

Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.

At a news conference Wednesday on the one-year anniversary of the heist, police confirmed that five suspects were arrested and four others are facing charges in connection with the largest gold theft in Canadian history.

Police said the suspects face a total of 19 charges and Canada-wide warrants have been issued for the arrest of three of the suspects who have not yet been apprehended. All of the suspects arrested in connection with the heist have been released on bail, police confirmed in a news release issued Wednesday.

Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said the heist was “carefully planned” by a “well-organized group of criminals.”

“This story is a sensational one and one which probably, we jokingly say, belongs in a Netflix series,” he said.

Police said 6,600 gold bars were stolen from Air Canada’s cargo facility on the evening of April 17, 2023 by a suspect who arrived at the warehouse in a five-tonne delivery truck.

The gold, along with about $2.5 million in foreign currency, had been shipped to Toronto from Zurich in the hull of an Air Canada plane and was offloaded to an Air Canada cargo facility shortly after the flight landed at Pearson Airport that afternoon.

Police allege that the suspect came into possession of the stolen gold and bank notes after presenting Air Canada personnel with a fraudulent airway bill.

“The airway bill was for a legitimate shipment of seafood that was picked up the day before,” Det.-Sgt. Mike Mavity, the major case manager for the joint investigation, dubbed Project 24K, told reporters on Wednesday.

“This duplicate airway bill was printed off from a printer within Air Canada cargo.”

A suspect and suspect vehicle are pictured during a news conference about a gold heist at Perason Airport. (Handout /Peel Police)Mavity said a forklift arrived a short time later and loaded the stolen gold and currency into the back of the truck. The suspect then drove off with the gold bars, which were estimated to be worth about $20 million.

Brinks Canada, which was hired to provide security and logistics services for the transportation of the shipment, showed up at the facility a few hours later to pick up the items, police said.

According to investigators, when Air Canada employees tried to locate the container, they realized it was missing and quickly launched an internal investigation. Police were notified about the stolen goods shortly before 3 a.m. the following day, Mavity said.

Air Canada launches probe

An exhaustive investigation followed, police said, with officers reviewing video surveillance footage from 225 businesses and residences in an effort to track the path of the truck, which has since been recovered.

Mavity said that last summer, they identified 25-year-old Durante King-McLean as the driver of the truck but were unable to locate him.

In September 2023, Mavity said King-McLean was stopped in rental vehicle by Pennsylvania State Police near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

“After a brief foot chase, he was detained and troopers located 65 illegal firearms in the vehicle,” Mavity said Wednesday.

According to Mavity, investigators believe that the stolen gold was melted down and sold and the proceeds were used to purchase illegal guns for a firearms trafficking operation.

He said members of Project 24K have been liaising with the U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Bureau (ATF) with respect to this aspect of the investigation.

Speaking at the news conference on Wednesday, a representative from the ATF said the law enforcement agency believes the 65 guns seized during the arrest of King-McLean were bound for Canada.

While King-McLean is currently in custody in the United States, he is now wanted on multiple charges in connection with the gold theft.

“We are alleging that some individuals who participated in this gold theft are also involved in aspects of this firearms trafficking,” Mavity added.

Gold taken during a heist at Pearson airport is shown being loaded into the back of the suspect’s truck in this image taken from surveillance footage released by police. (Peel Regional Police)Officers in Peel Region executed 37 search warrants in connection with Project 24K and police said only small quantity of the gold was recovered. Six gold bracelets, worth about $89,000, were seized, jewelry that police believe was made out of some of the gold that was stolen. Police said $434,000 in Canadian currency was also seized during the investigation. Officers believe that money was obtained through the sale of some of the stolen gold.

Two “debt lists” were found by investigators at separate locations during the investigation, police said.

“A common term in drug trafficking investigations, we believe these lists actually show where the money was distributed when the gold was sold by the suspects,” Mavity said.

He said the names on both lists are “consistent” and police are trying to identify all of those identified.

Six pure gold bracelets worth an estimated $89,000 were recovered as part of an investigation into a gold heist at Toronto Pearson airport and are displayed in this image from Peel police. (Handout)

‘They needed people inside Air Canada’

Police said one current Air Canada employee, identified as 54-year-old Brampton resident Parmpal Sidhu, has been charged with theft over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. A Canada-wide warrant has been issued 31-year-old Simran Preet Panesar, who police said resigned from his position as a manager at Air Canada back in the summer.

“He has been known to us since early on in the investigation. He actually led a tour for Peel Regional Police before we knew his involvement,” Mavity said Wednesday.

He added that police have an idea where Panesar may be but did not elaborate on a possible location.

Mavity said he believes the suspects needed employees on the inside to carry out the heist.

“Because of their position within Air Canada, in my opinion, yeah they needed people inside Air Canada to facilitate this theft,” he said.A map showing the alleged movements of vehicles during a gold heist at Toronto Pearson Airport is displayed during a news conference Wednesday November 17, 2024. (Handout /Peel police)