New benefit for workers only intended for those in 'complete' lockdowns: Qualtrough
The federal government intends for the newly proposed lockdown benefit to apply only to individuals whose work is interrupted by a complete COVID-19 lockdown in their region.
In an interview on CTV’s Question Period airing Sunday, Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Minister Carla Qualtrough said the details of the new Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit are still being ironed out, and will depend too on the public health restrictions imposed by provinces and territories.
Asked whether to be eligible for the benefit a worker would have to reside in an area with a full lockdown or one where there is only, for example, capacity restrictions, Qualtrough said “the thinking is a complete lockdown.”
“It will be driven by how a province or a region characterizes, of course, the lockdown.”
The benefit, which replaces the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), is available until May 7, 2022 retroactive to Oct. 24 and provides $300 a week to eligible applicants. It’s open to workers ineligible for Employment Insurance (EI), and those who are eligible for EI so long as they’re not paid benefits for the same application period.
A government website states that it would provide “income support to workers whose employment is interrupted by specific government-imposed public health lockdown scenarios and who are unable to work due to such restrictions.”
It also notes that individuals who are out of work or losing income because of a refusal to adhere to a vaccine mandate would not be qualified.
The Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit was announced last week along with a suite of other updates to now-expired COVID-19 aid programs, all of which come with a price tag of $7.4 billion.
The government is able to prolong the aid until Nov. 20 through regulatory powers, but will require legislation to extend them to their new expiration date.
In the new minority Parliament set to resume on Nov. 22, the Liberals will be looking for voting support from opposition members to get bills passed.
Qualtrough said she has confidence her team will be able to work collaboratively with their colleagues across the aisle.
“We’ve had a lot of practice at doing this. We’ve worked very closely with opposition parties over the past 20 months to make sure Canadians had the benefits. There was no disruption,” she said.
“The prime minister is in conversation with opposition leaders. I’ve actually been reaching out to my critics and I think we can do this.”
In a separate interview on CTV’s Question Period, NDP MP Peter Julian criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for delaying the resumption of Parliament following the election when Canadians are still struggling through the fourth wave of the pandemic.
“Canadian families, that were depending on the CRB were cut off arbitrarily, with only a few hours notice. This is a very cruel and callous act,” he said on a separate interview on CTV’s Question Period.
“Whatever the Liberals are proposing number one has to come to Parliament but number two, the so called workers lock down benefit, no regions qualify for it right now which means 880,000 people are left without means to put food on the table.”
Julian wouldn’t say if the NDP would vote in favour of the new measures but noted that the party has never “blindly” supported the Liberals.
Conservative MP Tim Uppal echoed a similar sentiment, noting that parliamentarians should be in the House of Commons debating income and business support changes.
“We should be there, we should be debating this legislation, taking a look at it, examining it in committee. This is a lot of money,” he said.
“For Canadians sake, we should be going through it with a fine-tooth comb to ensure that we are getting the most value for this money.”
He added that while the party agrees with sunsetting the CRB, they have concerns about other aspects of the proposals announced.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.
Local Spotlight
Mystery surrounds giant custom Canucks jerseys worn by Lions Gate Bridge statues
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
'I'm committed': Oilers fan won't cut hair until Stanley Cup comes to Edmonton
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
'It's not my father's body!' Wrong man sent home after death on family vacation in Cuba
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
'Once is too many times': Education assistants facing rising violence in classrooms
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
What is capital gains tax? How is it going to affect the economy and the younger generations?
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
UBC football star turning heads in lead up to NFL draft
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Cat found at Pearson airport 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly on a mission: N.S. student collecting books about women in sport for school library
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Where did the gold go? Crime expert weighs in on unfolding Pearson airport heist investigation
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.