To the editor:
On July 20, families across Canada received their first Canada Child Benefit cheque.
While certain families will receive more assistance than they have in the past, others will receive less and perhaps most concerning, families that are counting on this assistance will be shocked to learn that they potentially don’t qualify for the level of support they had been led to believe.
That’s because the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), unlike the Universal Child Care Benefit that provided stable support to all families, is based on your previous year’s income.
Canadians who have been laid off in the last six months or had their hours reduced won’t qualify for the maximum benefit this year, regardless of the fact that their families are struggling to make ends meet.
As the Toronto Sun reported on June 30, “The mismatch between income and the brand new Canada Child Benefit is one of the new plan’s biggest defects.”
For the past eight months, the Liberal government’s “solution” to every economic issue in Canada has been “the brand new Canada Child Benefit.”
Canadians looking for work, families struggling to pay for childcare or extracurricular activities, and parents trying to save for their children’s futures are expecting the government to deliver.
The sad reality is though, that far too many families are not going to get the financial support they need when it matters the most.
Statistics Canada studies indicate that as many as 2.4 million families will see their household income drop this year by 10 per cent or more compared to last year. Unfortunately, the Liberal government’s plan doesn’t take that into account.
Conservatives believe in supporting hard-working Canadian families and ensuring they get to keep more of their hard earned money to spend on their priorities. That is why we increased and expanded the Universal Child Care Benefit, introduced the Family Tax Cut, increased the Child Care Expense Deduction, doubled the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit and established the Children’s Art Tax Credit. Sadly, the Liberal government cancelled all of these initiatives.
Canadian families deserve better.
Karen Vecchio, MP
Families, Children and Social Development critic
