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.”
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
VICTORIA – British Columbia‘s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.
The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.
It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.
The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.
Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.
The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
