The provincial and federal governments were very quick to respond to the unfortunate job losses and financial crisis many Island and Canadian families faced in mid-March due to COVID-19. They should be commended for their prompt action. Hopefully, many people will realize the amount of work involved for all those in government who put in long hours to find ways to limit the damage and destruction bought about by the pandemic.
With all this hard work, it is inevitable that mistakes were made with the attempts to help out and some who needed help fell through the cracks. Programs were misused by some who found ways to benefit personally beyond what they were entitled to receive.
As it is tax dollars that fund emergency programs, it is important that these dollars are used wisely. Hopefully, we can assume that decisions made by governement are made in the best interest of its people, show transparency and can be justified. How else can we as taxpayers hold them accountable and know that our money is put to use where most needed and that improvements are made as required?
The Community Champion Program provided $100 Loblaws gift certificates to struggling households to buy necessities. My understanding is that elected members of the legislative assembly decided what organizations in their communities to pass these certificates to so that they would disburse them out to needy individuals and families.I did email questions to a number of elected members about this program over two weeks ago and have yet to receive a reply.
I have often questioned programs where government gives money to community organizations to do what government should be doing itself to help their people. With all the data collected by government, federal and provincial, it is they who are in a much better position to put money into the hands of those who most need it! Equally important, is the additional information they can gather about daily struggles of low-income families that could help to make vital and necessary improvements to our government’s social programs.
I have worked with a number of groups who assist those in need and we use private donations to do so. Most of our clients are seniors, social assistance recipients and those on living on EI. These people are receiving government benefits through social programs but still struggle to survive day to day to meet basic needs. Their needs are equally as important as all those who have recently been left unemployed and struggling due to this pandemic.
Instead of handing out gift cards, it might make a lot more sense to have something like the guaranteed income supplement in place so that unforseen circumstances, like the pandemic, have less of a negative impact on basic needs.
My understanding is that most federal and provincial employees are still being paid full salary while staying at home. It appears that federal government employees are being told they could be off until a vaccine is found — which could be a very long time! I do understand some employees are working from home, but if our tax dollars can continue to pay public sector workers full-time when not working, then private sector workers who have lost jobs should also be treated the same by our governments. EI benefits could be topped up to equal what they were receiving when working.
Private sector employers will be a long time recouping what they have lost and many will not survive. They and their employees cannot possibly compete with government wages and benefits but their work is equally as important and they deserve similar benefits to help them get through this crisis.
This is a new frontier we are living in and there is a steep learning curve in looking for effective measures to sustain all during tough times, especially for the vulnerable. We do the best we can and we need to regularly re-evaluate and adjust what we do so we can do better and be fair to all. That also means giving the public a voice and answers into what is happening and why when someone takes the time to ask. It's not an attack, it’s a discussion and a sharing of ideas.
Judy Barrett has lived in Charlottetown for 43 years and has been involved with groups like Community Volunteer Income Tax Program, Society of St. Vincent dePaul and has sat on various committees dealing with poverty.