As provinces hand out cash, advocates say inflation help should be more targeted

As provincial governments hand out one-time cashpayments to help residents cope with inflation, anti-poverty advocates say the efforts are a missed opportunity to help thosemost in need.

Doug Pawson, the executive director of Newfoundland-basedanti-poverty group End Homelessness St. John's, says that whileevery dollar helps, the one-time nature of the payments mean theywon't address people's enduring needs.

"It's strikes me as a bit of lazy policy in the sense that youcould really target these funds to be to have more impact, andmeaningful impact," he said.

The Newfoundland and Labrador government announced last week itwill send $500 cheques to all residents who made less than $100,000last year, with those earning between $100,000and $125,000 getting smaller chequesa plan that echoes similar programs in Quebec and Saskatchewan.

The initiative is expected to cost nearly $200 million.

At a time when an "unprecedented" number ofpeople and families in St. John's are experiencing homelessness, said Pawson, itwould be better to offer sustained support to help people who arestruggling to pay for utilities, food and basic living expenses.

"It's a lot of money that's being put out and there's nothingmeaningful that's going to come from it, in the same way thattargeted investments into housing, for example, could have had," hesaid.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Finance Department said the measureis just one of several intended to help people deal with inflation.

"We have one of the most responsive sets of cost-of-livingmeasures relative to other Canadian provinces," spokeswoman Victoria Barbour wrote in an email. "Many of these cost-of-livinginitiatives focused on the most vulnerable. These included increasesto the income supplement and seniors' benefit, as well as a one-timepayment to those on income support."

Other provinces also handing out money

Other provinces have taken similar steps. Saskatchewan has saidit will give all residents who completed a tax return last year aone-time payment of $500, while Manitoba is giving all families withincomes up to $175,000 a $250 cheque for their first child and $200for each additional child under 18.

In Quebec, where the provincial government sent $500 cheques tomost residents earlier this year, a second round of inflationpayments are planned for December. Those will see all residents whoearned less than $100,000 in 2021 get $400, with those earning lessthan $50,000 getting an additional $200.

The cost of that second payment is estimated at around $3.5billion.

Tasha Lackman, the executive director of the Depot Community FoodCentre in Montreal, said her group has seen requests for emergencyfood assistance double since the spring as people on fixed or lowincomes struggle to keep up with the rising cost of groceries.

"Those kinds of measures are not long-term solutions, they'reband-aid solutions," she said Sunday. "TheseBand-Aid solutions are not addressing the major issues. We needstable income floors that nobody can fall below; we need socialhousing, or affordable housing, and access to those housingprograms, and that's not what we're seeing."

Ewan Sauves, a spokesman for Quebec Premier Franois Legault,said the rising cost of living is affecting everyone andtheDecember payments will be "more generous for lower-incomeindividuals and families."

Sauves wrote in an email the Quebec government has also committedto spend $1.8 billion on the construction of new social andaffordable housing, help more than 7,000 households pay their rentand provide $20 million in infrastructure funding for food banks.

Dan Meades, the provincial co-ordinator of the Transition HouseAssociation of Newfoundland and Labrador, said Saturday that while inflation is hurting everyone, higher-incomefamilies have the ability to make choices about their spending thataren't open to someone making $15,000 a year.

"I don't disagree that everybody is having a hard time, but itcan't be government's job to care for those of us that have themost;it has to be government's job to care for those of us that aremost vulnerable and have the least, first," he said.

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