November 17, 2021

NDP urges Liberal government to stop cutting the help for Families

OTTAWA – Today, following new information from Statistics Canada that the cost of essentials like food, housing and gasoline are rising, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is urging the Trudeau government to stop clawing back support from Canadians who need help. Last week, Singh asked that the 80,000 low-income seniors who were cut off the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) for receiving pandemic supports continue to get the help they need. Singh is also calling on the Liberal government to help the low-income families who have had the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) they count on taken away from them.

“Canadians are being punished for getting the help they needed to pay their rent and put food on the table during the pandemic,” said Singh. “The Liberals don’t mind giving huge corporations millions of dollars in subsidies and pandemic supports. But when the most vulnerable Canadians need help, Justin Trudeau continues to prove he’ll turn his back on them. This isn’t right. New Democrats will keep fighting for people to get the help they rely on.”

Media reports today confirm that the government knew in May 2021 that low-income families would see the support they received from the CCB drop. So far, the Liberal government hasn’t taken the necessary action to fix the problem. 30 per cent of the families who are seeing the sharpest drop in their benefit have total incomes under $20,000 per year.

“The Liberal government is punishing people who are already struggling to pay their rent and keep up with the cost of living,” said NDP Finance Critic Daniel Blaikie. “The Prime Minister campaigned on a promise to have people’s backs during the pandemic, and now he his turning his back on them. It’s hard to understand how the Liberal government can allow low-income families and seniors to fall even further behind. For months, New Democrats have been standing up for the most vulnerable Canadians – it’s time for Justin Trudeau to do the same.”

Today, Statistics Canada indicated that the cost of living is rising across the country – the price of gasoline rose a massive 41.7 per cent from last October. New Democrats are saying that this will make it even harder for Canadian families to afford the things they need.

"Families are hurting right now," said NDP Critic for Families, Children and Social Development Leah Gazan. "One in five children in Canada live in poverty--that means we're in the bottom third of all industrialized countries. And now the Liberal government is clawing back the CCB, one of the lifelines that keeps food on the table for these children. New Democrats are calling for an immediate fix because families deserve the chance to get by."

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Claire Johnston

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