Kerri Neuburger of Abbotsford, B.C. had been waiting for details on the federal government’s transition from the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) with unusual trepidation.
The 44-year old human resources and accounting professional says she lost her job in a corporate restructuring just weeks before the novel coronavirus pandemic began to spread across North America.
She made an Employment Insurance claim and started looking for jobs, but just when she was about to sign up for a new position, she says the lockdown came into effect, and the prospective employer rescinded the offer.
Like thousands of others, Neuburger had to use up her all EI benefits before moving onto the CERB. This meant that, while usually eligible for regular unemployment benefits, she won’t be able to make another EI claim once the emergency benefits program runs out.
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In the run-up to Thursday’s announcement, Neuburger and many others in her situation had taken to social media to ask: Would the federal government remember about them when laying out plans for the transition after CERB?
As of Friday morning, though, Neuburger says she can breathe easy.
“Pretty much what everybody’s feeling is relief right now,” she says.
1:57 Federal government unveils CERB transition plan
Federal government unveils CERB transition plan
An official from the office of Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough confirmed to Global News that Canadians who were already on EI as the lockdown started in mid-March and have exhausted benefits will be able to transition to the new Canada Recovery Benefit if they continue to be unable to find employment due to COVID-19.
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The benefit will provide $400 a week for up to 26 weeks, or roughly six months. Recipients will have an obligation to be available for work and look for employment while on the benefit.
The new benefits program will be available for self-employed Canadians and others who don’t qualify for EI, including those in Neuburger’s situation, according to Qualtrough’s office.
Recipients will be able to earn up to $38,000 in annual net income from employment or self-employment while receiving payments. Beyond that threshold, they will have to repay 50 cents for every additional dollar earned, like EI recipients need to do when working while on claim.
The Canada Recovery Benefit is part of three new benefits program Ottawa envisions in the aftermath of CERB to cover workers who don’t have access to EI. The Liberals also plan to create a Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit for parents taking care of children who can’t go to daycare or school and a Canada Recovery Sickness benefits for those who don’t have paid sick leave. All three programs would remain in force for one year after the CERB ends.
Ottawa’s temporary social safety-net expansion also includes a four-week extension of CERB eligibility and temporary changes that would make EI more generous and easy to access.s
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Anyone eligible for EI will get a minimum benefit of $400 a week for at least 26 weeks and will need to have worked 120 hours to qualify, well below current EI requirements, since many Canadians have been unable to work due to the pandemic.
The overall plan is expected to cost taxpayers a fresh $37 billion in funding.
1:26 Coronavirus: CERB transition to new benefits, EI changes expected to cost $37B
Coronavirus: CERB transition to new benefits, EI changes expected to cost $37B
Neuburger says her only concern now is whether the Liberal government will be able to adopt the sweeping changes with a minority government.
“People are just worried that, come September 23rd, it’s not going to pass,” she says.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has prorogued parliament until Sept. 23 following the resignation of Bill Morneau as federal finance minister and the WE Charity scandal.
The uncertainty surrounding whether and how the Liberals will be able to adopt the new measures is “a big caveat,” says Ricardo Tranjan, a senior researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
“At the end of September, in a scenario where the Liberals do not get a vote of confidence, we don’t know what’s going to happen to workers,” he says.
Sources who have been briefed on the government’s plan say the new income supports will be created through regulations, rather than legislation, the Canadian Press has reported.
For small business owners, the uncertainty created by the plan revolves around whether they’ll be able to hire enough part-time staff as they’re allowed to reopen, according to Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
“CFIB’s biggest concern is that a worker can now collect $400 per week for a half-year if they’ve been working a part-time job with three hours a week (or less),” Kelly told Global News in emailed comments.
Neuburger, for her part, hopes she may not even need to tap the new benefits program after all.
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After sending out more than 300 resumes, Neuburger says she landed a job interview just as the Liberals announced the post-CERB plan. She says it’s the first call-back she’s gotten from an employer since the start of the pandemic.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
