The Liberals say they will launch the first stage of a dental care program, boosting the GST tax credit and providing a one-time increase to the Canada Housing Benefit. “Our government has worked hard on a plan that will provide relief to millions of Canadians,” Trudeau said in St. Andrews, New York, on Tuesday, where he is attending a Liberal cabinet retreat. “Today, we’re announcing additional targeted new measures that will support the middle class and the people working hard to join it. These will be the first pieces of legislation we introduce when the House returns.” The announcement was supposed to have been made on Sept. 8 in Vancouver during the previous Liberal cabinet. The sudden death of Queen Elizabeth II delayed its release. The NDP pushed the Liberals to provide financial support to Canadians struggling with inflation through strengthening the GST tax credit. The Liberals voted against a motion proposing this relief in May. The plan announced Tuesday will double the GST tax credit for six months — a move the government says will affect 11 million Canadians and families who currently receive the tax credit. Singles without children will get up to $234 more of the credit, couples with children will get up to $467 more and seniors can expect an average boost of $225 this year.
Fruits of the Liberal/ND agreement
The Liberals are also making a one-time increase to the Canada Housing Benefit, providing up to $500 to $1.8 million to Canadian renters struggling with housing needs. The Canada Housing Benefit, developed by the federal government and the provinces, launched in 2020 with $4 billion in shared funding over eight years. The federal government said the benefit would be available to families with an adjusted net income of less than $35,000 — or singles with an income of less than $20,000 — who pay at least 30 percent of their income on rent. Earlier this year, the Liberals and New Democrats struck a deal committing the NDP to vote with the minority Liberal government in the House of Commons on confidence votes by June 2025. In return, the government agreed to meet a number of policy benchmarks against length of way. The New Democrats said at least two of those pledges must be met before the Christmas break if the Liberals want the deal to remain intact. The first was the boost to the Canada Housing Benefit, while the second is the introduction of the first stage of a dental care program. Trudeau announced his government is introducing a dental benefit in Canada for children under 12 who do not have access to dental insurance. Low- and moderate-income families with a combined income of less than $90,000 can access up to $650 per year for the next two years for dental services. Trudeau said the next step would be to expand dental care to people under 18, seniors and people with disabilities by the end of 2023, before the program is fully implemented by 2025.
Singh: We made it happen
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh welcomed the announcement and said his party has been working hard since the spring to pressure the governing Liberals to help Canadians with the cost of living. “We won,” Singh said in Thunder Bay, Ont., where he will attend an NDP party rally. “We forced this government to deliver three things. Each of these elements would not have happened but for the fact that we forced the government to uphold this respect for the people.” Singh said more needs to be done to help Canadians struggling with inflation and his party will continue to put pressure on the Liberal government. “We’re talking about putting money back in your pockets, helping people and that’s what we’ve done and we’ll continue to do even more,” he said.
