The federal NDP are celebrating a major victory after successfully leveraging the Liberal government to take action on dental care, housing, and the cost of living ahead of the fall session of Parliament.
Ahead of a return to Parliament, the NDP called on the Liberal government to double the Goods and Services Tax Credit (GSTC), while also increasing the Canada Child Benefit and the Canadian Housing Benefit. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau followed through.
At a news conference during the final day of the Liberal caucus retreat in St. Andrews, N.B., Trudeau announced his party’s intention to introduce several pieces of legislation that would address the rising cost of living, including doubling the GSTC for six months — a move he says will put up to an extra $234 in the pockets of single Canadians without children, an average of $225 for seniors, and up to $467 for couples with two children.
The Liberals are also planning to introduce a Canada Dental Benefit of up to $650 per year for children under the age of 12 in families without dental coverage that have annual incomes under $90,000. The Canada Dental Benefit marks the first phase of the federal dental care coverage the NDP pushed the Liberals to take just one year after voting against a motion for similar legislation by the New Democrats.
Nearly two million Canadian renters are set to benefit from a proposed bill to provide a one-time $500 top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit, a move the Liberals say reaches “twice as many Canadians as initially promised” in Budget 2022. The benefit is available to renters who spend at least 30 per cent of their income on rent and earn less than $20,000 for individuals and $35,000 for families.
“We are retaining fiscal firepower, and at the same time ensuring that those who need support don’t get left behind,” Trudeau said Tuesday.
The shift by the Liberal government comes just days after the federal NDP caucus met at a retreat in Halifax in an effort to prepare party priorities ahead of the fall session of Parliament. The session was slated to begin next Monday but is expected to be delayed as the funeral and national day of mourning for Queen Elizabeth II is set for the same day.
“These are concrete steps that will provide support to families that need it,” Singh told reporters last week. “This will give respect to people that are right now having a difficult time feeling squeezed by the cost of living going up.”
Singh pointed to international efforts like Spain’s making transit fare-free or the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act as a blueprint for what Canadian lawmakers can accomplish in the upcoming session.
“The burden of the cost of living going up shouldn’t fall on the shoulders of workers,” Singh said, noting that raising federal interest rates will only punish workers. “We’re going to force this government to do what’s right for people, and if they do not deliver on what people need at this time, then we’ve got the tools to respond, and there will be repercussions.”
The New Democrats are also calling for an excess profit tax for certain companies and corporations that, Singh says, “have just made profits by being in the right place at the right time,” pointing to the oil and gas sector as just one example of corporate greed breeding massive revenue at the expense of consumers.
Asked about the Conservative Party electing a new leader ahead of Pierre Poilievre’s victory on Saturday, Singh seemed confident that not much would change, pointing out that the party voted against dental care as well as raising taxes for wealthy CEOs.
“They might say one thing, but when it comes down to it, they have voted consistently to support those at the very top, and it ends up hurting people,” he said.
Referring to the NDP as a “Worker’s Party,” Singh argued that Poilievre might talk a lot about working class issues, but “he’s not willing to back it up with action.”
The NDP leader was also asked about the issue of carbon pricing and the Atlantic premiers’ efforts to avoid a carbon tax on their provinces. He said that the party is pushing for specific waivers to take the Goods and Sales Tax (GST) off of necessities like home heating to ensure the cost of living isn’t jeopardized by a carbon tax.
According to Singh, the NDP is also trying to make it so Canadians are not paying some of the highest cell service and data fees in the world by introducing new low-cost options to provide a cheaper alternative to the telecom giants. He also called for a backup plan to ensure cellular and internet services remain operational in the event of an outage, referring to the proposed Shaw—Rogers merger as “horrible for Canadians” and something New Democrats oppose.
“We’ve seen Liberals and Conservatives, for too long, cozy up to the big telecom companies, and as a result, Canadians have had to pay the price, and that’s wrong,” Singh said.
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