(OTTAWA) The federal government is seeking to lessen the impact of inflation on Canadian families without further contributing to the problem, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday, as his government rejected an NDP call to increase reimbursements for the GST and the Canada child benefit.
Posted at 4:24 p.m.
New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh wanted the government to double the GST rebate and increase the Canada Child Benefit by $500 per child to help Canadian families struggling with soaring food and gas prices .
According to Statistics Canada, inflation in April hit 6.8%, the highest rate since January 1991, largely due to a 9.7% increase in the cost of food purchased from stores and a 36% increase in gas prices.
“Wages only went up 3.3%,” Singh said during question period. All this to say that workers are taking a massive pay cut while oil and gas companies reap huge profits. The Prime Minister can do something instead of just sitting idly by. »
Singh says the federal government should pay for the measures by reallocating $2.6 billion intended to provide a tax credit to companies that set up carbon capture and storage systems.
Most of that money would likely go to oil and gas companies, and the NDP says it’s a massive subsidy to companies making record profits due to the same spike in gasoline prices that’s hurting to Canadian families.
The NDP presented an opposition day motion this week asking for support from other parties for this idea. He only obtained the support of the Bloc Québécois, since the Liberals and the Conservatives voted against the motion on Wednesday afternoon.
Earlier Wednesday, Trudeau argued that the GST refund and Canada Child Benefit checks were already indexed to inflation.
The Prime Minister also said new child care agreements with provinces are saving Canadians thousands of dollars and helping to offset rising grocery and gas bills.