As Omicron threatens to fuel the worst COVID-19 wave yet, the new, more targeted Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit (CWLB) has been introduced to support Canadians impacted by future economic lockdowns.
This is good news, but let’s hope we’ve learned our lesson from its predecessor CERB and will prevent this financial lifeline from turning into a financial millstone around the necks of struggling Canadians.
When the federal government made the bold decision to roll out the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) in the early weeks of the first COVID-19 lockdown, they knew there would be complications down the road; some recipients would prove ineligible and other low-income Canadians, whose incomes were temporarily boosted by CERB, would see the loss or clawback of future federal benefits. They opted to go ahead anyway and Canadians overwhelmingly supported that choice.
Where the government can be faulted, however, is in its failure to head off these adverse impacts on Canadians with low incomes. Hundreds of thousands of Canadians living below the poverty line have been saddled by crushing CERB debts they have no hope of ever repaying, have been sideswiped by the sudden loss or reduction of their seniors benefits, or both.
While seniors and students were the first hit, families with children and low-wage workers are next in 2022, as eligibility and payments for the Canada Child Benefit, the Canada Workers Benefit, and the GST/HST Credit are calculated based on 2021 income, with no effort to subtract temporary CERB and CRB payments from this equation. As a result, many struggling families who least expect it will see their federal benefits suddenly drop with no warning or disappear entirely, even as their cost-of-living rockets skyward.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland recently announced targeted financial support for seniors and students who have been hit hard, but more action is needed to prevent the same heartless scenario from playing out in the lives of more vulnerable households.
Remedies need to be announced to shelter other benefit recipients from loss of precious income they need to pay rent and put food on their table. We also need a CERB/CRB debt amnesty for Canadians living below the poverty line and graduated relief for those with modest incomes. And, most importantly, we need to ensure the new Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit doesn’t trigger a similar wave of hardship for unsuspecting workers.
The pandemic benefits share a common purpose — to put a firm financial floor under workers impacted by job and earnings losses and to enable them to stay home safely when needed.
These programs have been incredibly effective and godsends for millions of Canadians — so let’s keep them that way. Let’s take the final few steps to ensure these programs remain the bold, innovative and compassionate solutions the government envisioned.
Let’s continue to have each other’s backs, because that’s what Canadians do.
Photo courtesy of iStock
