The federal government in Ottawa is planning to extend the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) that provides $2,000 a month to people whose jobs have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
A total of 8.4 million Canadians, about 40% of the country’s total workforce, are currently receiving the $2,000 a month benefit, according to government data. But the program, as currently structured, only allows people to claim CERB for 16 weeks
The socialist New Democratic Party (NDP) said on Monday that in the next couple of weeks two million people will max out their benefits, and a further six million will hit the ceiling a few weeks later. If there's no plan to keep CERB going, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said his party won't back a massive spending proposal due in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
A vote on the spending plan, representing about $87 billion, is a confidence motion -- as are votes on all government spending -- so in theory the opposition parties could bring down the government if they refuse to support it. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party is in a minority government situation and needs the support of the NDP to remain in power.
The Liberal government tried last week to pass a bill that would change CERB as part of broader legislation that would have also expanded benefits for Canadians with disabilities. The CERB-related elements were designed to address concerns that the benefit is discouraging people from returning to work.
Under the proposed changes, people would have seen their benefits cut off if they failed to return to work when it was “reasonable” to do so, and their employer asked them to come back, or if they were able to work but declined a reasonable job offer. But that legislation failed to pass because none of the opposition parties would support it.
