Some self-employed Canadians are being let off the hook on repayment of thousands of dollars received through the Canada emergency response benefit (CERB).
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement in a news conference outside his residence at Rideau Cottage today.
“For people who accessed CERB based on their gross income instead of net income — as long as you met the other eligibility criteria, you will not have to return your CERB payments,” he said.
“When we rolled out CERB last March, it was because people needed help in the face of a global, once-in-a-generation crisis.”
A government source not authorized to speak publicly said that self-employed Canadians who applied for CERB, and who would have qualified based on their gross income, will no longer be required to repay — provided they met all the other eligibility requirements. This policy applies regardless of whether applicants accessed CERB through the Canada Revenue Agency or through Service Canada.
Those who meet that description and have already voluntarily repaid their CERB will see the money returned to them, according to the source.
In November and December of last year, some 441,000 Canadians received so-called education letters from the CRA saying they may not have met the requirements for the thousands of dollars in CERB payments they had received and might have to pay the money back.
Some self-employed Canadians said they were being told by the tax agency that the problem was related to how they calculated whether they met the benefit threshold: $5,000 in income in 2019 or in the last 12 months.
Many reached out CBC News to say they believed that meant all income, since there was no mention of expenses. The CRA insisted self-employment income always refers to “net, pre-tax income,” or gross income minus expenses.
PM had been unclear on repayments
But the CRA didn’t always explain it that way to taxpayers. The Union of Taxation Employees revealed that its members had been given the wrong information on how income would be calculated — and passed that incorrect information along to CRA callers for about three weeks before the problem was corrected.
At the time, Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough said her government wasn’t considering debt forgiveness for those affected.
“There’s not a conversation happening right now where we would forgive people, where we would not require people who were not eligible to pay it back. No,” she told CBC News in December.
The prime minister was less clear in a year-end interview with CBC’s chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.
“We’re gonna work with them and I don’t want people to worry over Christmas. The system needs to be fair but it also needs to be there to support the most vulnerable. That’s the decision we took from the beginning — we’ll have Canadians’ backs.”
The prime minister was asked repeatedly if some CERB applicants might not have to repay. He said the government was looking at “a range of possibilities.”
“Everyone’s in different situations. We’re going to work with people, we’re going to look at what the options are, but I don’t want people to worry about repaying this holiday season,” he said.
The federal government is also expected to announce today that Canadians with pandemic benefit debt will have up to a year to repay the amounts owing without accumulating any interest.
The move applies to those who made up to $75,000 in taxable income in 2020 and received one of the federal government’s five pandemic relief benefits or employment insurance benefits.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
