A local NDP Member of Parliament wants the Liberals to rethink a proposal to collect the money given to help people navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.
Windsor West MP Brian Masse has responded to the Liberals' plan to have some low-income residents repay some of the funding provided by the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). Masse told BlackburnNewsWindsor.com that the government does not take into account those in Windsor who are struggling even more because of the pandemic.
"It's going to be an even larger problem with tax season coming, and so what we've asked for is an amnesty for those in the poverty zone," said Masse. "What's going to take place is that they don't have to pay the CERB this year, but it will be rolled into next year, and that will have a devastating impact on those within the lower-income sphere."
As reported in December 2020 by Global News, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged that the Canada Revenue Agency sent letters to over 441,000 people nationwide suggesting that they may have to pay back at least a portion of their CERB benefits.
The letters asked residents for additional information so that the CRA can further determine eligibility, but Trudeau said people who got the letters should not worry, and pointed out that many Canadians who got CERB benefits in error have already repaid them.
Masse said those in lower-income brackets should not have to pay for what the government is doing.
"This a one hundred percent Ottawa's mistake, and it was compounded by Toronto because they couldn't communicate between the two of them," said Masse. "These people are trying to pay off debt and this could take them several years to do so, and this is when people barely have enough money to get by for rent and groceries."
Masse has asked the government to grant amnesty to those making $30,000 a year or less individually, $45,000 for two-person families, $50,000 for three people, and more receiving amnesty based on total income.
---with files from Adelle Loiselle