N.L. seniors to get $100 to $500 cheques in December

Newfoundland and Labrador will send a one-time cost-of-living payment of $100 to $500 to residents aged 65 and older in December, Premier Tony Wakeham and Finance Minister Craig Pardy announced Monday, CBC News reported.

The announcement was made at the community centre in Torbay, N.L. Seniors with an individual income of $75,000 or less will get the full $500. The amount drops by $80 for every additional $5,000 of income, to $100 at an income of $100,000. Seniors earning more than $100,000 will not receive a payment.

The finance department will mail the payments as cheques. The province said the relief will cost more than $64 million and reach more than 130,000 seniors, according to CBC.

Wakeham told reporters the payments are based on individual income, not household income. “So two seniors, husband and wife, they both make 75 or less, they’re going to benefit each,” he said.

“We’ve determined that there’s a lot of people that are out there struggling in Newfoundland and Labrador,” Pardy said. “I think it was quite obvious that seniors needed a boost.”

Pardy said more help may follow. He told reporters the province has not exhausted what it is projecting and that the amount in a 20 per cent envelope tied to high oil revenues is growing, which “may precipitate something thereafter the next announcement.”

Mariette Byrne, an executive with the Torbay 50-plus active group, said rising gas and food prices are forcing seniors to make choices about groceries and fuel.

Wakeham’s government has been moving on other cost-of-living measures, including a bill that would zero the provincial gas tax on Dec. 1 with an oil-price trigger. For other help available across the country, see our guide to energy bill grants by province.

The details come from CBC News coverage of the announcement; Canada News Media has not independently confirmed them with the province.

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