PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU PLEDGED MONDAY TO EXTEND THE CANADA EMERGENCY RESPONSE BENEFIT. IT’S A MOVE THAT SHOULD GARNER HIS GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR A CONFIDENCE VOTE LATER THIS WEEK.
Liberals seek support for $87B spending bill
OTTAWA • Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged Monday to extend the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, a move that should garner his government support for a confidence vote later this week.
“If you’re having trouble finding a job, you shouldn’t also be worrying about whether you’ll hit the limit of your CERB benefits,” Trudeau said.
CERB is the $2,000 a month payment the government introduced in March, which was meant to run for 16 weeks and was set to expire early in July. Trudeau provided no details for the proposed extension, but said the government would not cut people off abruptly.
“We’re working on a solution to extend the benefits for people who can’t return to work yet. We’ll have more details later this week. But for today, I want you to know that we will continue to be there for you and your family.”
As of early June, the CERB program has cost the government $43.5 billion since it began with more than eight million Canadians applying for the payments. More people have stayed on the program for longer than originally estimated and the government estimates it will cost $60 billion. Extending the program has been a key demand of the NDP for their support in parliamentary votes.
The parliamentary budget officer looked at the prospect of extending CERB with another 12 weeks of benefits and found that could cost an additional $60 billion, on top of the money that has already been spent.
The Liberals have been trying to steer more employers onto the wage subsidy program and Trudeau encouraged businesses to apply, to help them bring back workers, while sales remained slow.
Trudeau continued to encourage employers to use the subsidy to bring workers back, but said his government has to be realistic and some businesses will be permanently closed.
“We’re seeing more and more companies take on the wage subsidy, which is a good thing. But even with the economy reopening, we know there are many jobs that aren’t going to be coming back.”
On Wednesday, the House of Commons will debate $87 billion in spending related to the pandemic in just a few hours. The Liberals need the support of at least one opposition party to pass some of that spending.
As a major spending bill, the vote is also a confidence measure and losing it would push the country into an election.
Among other demands, the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois have both called for a fiscal update as a condition of their support for the government.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has been pushing for the government to extend the CERB benefit for weeks. He said as many as two million people could be without income if the benefit cuts off in a few weeks.
“This is a massive number of people, many who don’t know if there is a job for them to return to,” he said before Trudeau spoke.
After Trudeau’s press conference, Singh said he was pleased the prime minister was committing to extend CERB, but he will be paying attention to the details of what is announced.
“I am flexible on what that looks like and how that’s delivered. I will leave government to the job of presenting their plan.”
Singh said he believes the government should offer to extend CERB until at least September at a similar level of benefits, but said he would be willing to negotiate those points.
The Liberals’ proposal last week would have made it clear that anyone who was offered a job was required to return to work, rather than continue to collect CERB benefits.