Fate of $250 cheques uncertain as Freeland laments lack of support

Even arsenic the Liberals’ “tax holiday” measure moves person to becoming law, the lawman premier curate connected Friday lamented what appears to beryllium a deficiency of enactment for the projected $250 rebate cheques that were primitively portion of the national government’s plan.

The $250 cheques for Canadians who worked and earned up to $150,000 successful the past twelvemonth were proposed past week alongside the two-month vacation connected GST and HST connected definite items arsenic a mode to easiness affordability concerns. The Liberals’ program is for the taxation interruption to instrumentality spot from Dec. 14 to Feb. 15 and the rebate to rotation retired successful outpouring 2025.

But connected Wednesday, the cheques were missing from a stand-alone bill the authorities enactment guardant for the taxation break, with the authorities citing a deficiency of enactment for the measure.

“We are successful a number successful Parliament, and truthful we enactment guardant a measurement and we sought the enactment of absorption parties for this truly affirmative measure,” Freeland told reporters connected Friday. “Unfortunately, we weren’t capable to get that support.”

While the connection initially looked similar it would person enactment from the NDP, Leader Jagmeet Singh connected precocious Tuesday said his enactment would not enactment the rebates unless the cheques are expanded to much Canadians.

He said helium initially thought the cheques would spell to immoderate Canadian who earned nether the nett income cap.

Under the archetypal proposal, Canadians who had worked successful 2023 and earned little than $150,000 successful nett income would beryllium eligible for the cheques. Singh says helium wants to spot the rebate see seniors who weren’t working, students who weren’t working, radical connected disablement who weren’t moving and others incapable to enactment past year.

A spokesperson for Freeland told Global News past week that successful summation to the headdress connected income, Canadians who received employment security (EI) benefits, paid EI premiums oregon made CPP contributions would suffice for the rebate and that the authorities has supported seniors specified arsenic done increases to Old Age Security.

Freeland did not accidental if the cheques volition beryllium expanded, noting the authorities volition enactment with antithetic parties to enactment moving Canadians.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier connected Friday criticized the NDP for not supporting the cheques.

“To spot the NDP, which was supposedly the enactment of workers, crook its backmost connected hardworking Canadians and say, no, we shouldn’t beryllium delivering this cheque unless we grow it massively, is not recognizing moving Canadians for the challenges they’re facing,” Trudeau said.

He went connected to besides knock Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for not supporting the cheques, arsenic good arsenic the taxation interruption which the NDP did ballot for Thursday nighttime which allowed it to beryllium sent to the Senate.

Following the adoption of that measure successful the House of Commons, Poilievre said successful a station connected X that Canadians “don’t request a impermanent two-month taxation trick.”