MNI POLICY: New Canada FinMin Extends Pricey Relief Checks

Chrystia Freeland's first official move as Canada's new finance minister was adding a four-week extension to the Covid-19 relief checks that have added CAD69.4 billion to the record CAD343 billion deficit this year.

The so-called CERB checks have drawn complaints from business groups about discouraging people from returning to work as the economy re-opens. The government sought to tackle this problem by also affirming it will broaden access to traditional unemployment benefits that require people to be available and looking for work. CERB checks pay CAD500 a week, and jobless benefits will now pay at least CAD400 a week, according to a presentation from the federal employment agency.

The CERB program has taken 8.6 million applications since March in a nation of 38 million people, a vital lifeline for many gig and part-time workers as unemployment rose to a postwar record during the Covid-19 lockdown. The "simplified" jobless benefit system will launch Sept. 27, and rates on the payroll taxes to fund them will be frozen for two years.

"By doing the right thing to protect our health, we are also supporting our economy," Freeland said at a press conference. "By supporting Canadians who are out of work because of the pandemic, we are making it possible for our country to continue to practice social distancing."

Freeland took over on Tuesday from Bill Morneau, who resigned Monday night amid reports of policy clashes with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a view underlined by Trudeau's announcement he was suspending Parliament until Sept. 23 to prepare a "Throne Speech" laying out a new economic strategy. Politics are also in play, with Trudeau and Morneau under a conflict-of-interest investigation over a CAD900 million government contract they helped approve, leading one opposition party too say it wants to force an early election.