NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh wants the Trudeau government to put an end to the CERB clawbacks.
People are struggling to make ends meet should not be penalized for applying for the CERB in good faith — just because the Liberals’ directives were wrong, the NDP said in a media release.
“In the middle of a second wave and leading into a Holiday season where people won’t be able to gather with their families, Canadians are going through tough times. Canadians applied for the CERB in good faith to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads, and now the Liberals want to penalize over 440,000 families because the Liberals gave the wrong information. This is grossly unfair,” said Singh. “Meanwhile, they’re letting big corporations benefit from their wage subsidy while they pay billions in dividends to their rich shareholders. It’s clear whose side the Liberals are on. While they’re working for their wealthy friends, we’re fighting for you.”
The Liberals promised back in April that they wouldn’t unjustly penalize people who would apply in good faith for the CERB, the NDP pointed out. They broke that promise by telling Canadians to pay back their CERB payments by the end of the month – because of the Liberals’ own mistake around net and gross income. They are going after people struggling to get by, while they let big corporations off the hook for taking public money and paying dividends to help make their shareholders richer.
“The treatment devoted to big corporations by the Liberals instead of helping workers get through this pandemic is a clear indication of whose side this government is on. They are stating clearly that they’re not on the side of honest self-employed workers and artists who needed the CERB to pay their bills and make ends meet,” said former NDP MP Andrew Cash. “Instead of penalizing these workers in the middle of a second wave before the holiday season – due to the Liberals’ own mistake – they need to stop telling Canadians to repay the CERB they needed to get by.”
