P.E.I.’s promised ‘emergency relief’ cheques will not be sent until July
CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Prince Edward Islanders won’t be receiving their $100 to $150 emergency aid cheque – meant to assist offset among the sting of rising fuel costs – till July.
Finance Minister Darlene Compton apologized on April 28 for the delay within the aid cheques, which Premier Dennis King initially instructed in early March could be delivered to Islanders in 15 to 30 days.
King had introduced all Prince Edward Islanders incomes underneath $50,000 a 12 months would obtain cheques of between $100 and $150 in early March in response to hikes in fuel costs. King had initially mentioned he requested the federal Canada Income Company (CRA) if the cheques could possibly be despatched inside 15 to 30 days.
The province estimated the cheques could be despatched to round 90,000 Islanders at a price of $15 million.
Seven weeks later, Opposition Chief Peter Bevan-Baker requested Finance Minister Darlene Compton concerning the standing of the cheques.
“Islanders awoke at the moment to yet one more large bounce in fuel costs, and that’s on prime of, after all, rising prices of housing, of meals costs, of constructing supplies,” Bevan-Baker mentioned throughout query interval within the P.E.I. legislature on April 28. “Query to the minister of finance: Have these emergency aid cheques gone out but?”
“Honourable member, they haven’t,” mentioned Compton. “We’ll get these funds out as rapidly as doable, and we simply haven’t had the mechanism in place to have the ability to do this, however we’ll. My anticipated date is July fifth.”
In a while, after having learn out a definition of the phrase “emergency” from the Oxford English dictionary, Bevan-Baker famous the Division of Financial Progress had rolled out emergency COVID-19 revenue aid packages in a matter of days.
“Why are you co-ordinating this with the CRA and federal authorities the place you would run it provincially and get these cheques out tomorrow?” Bevan-Baker requested.
“Folks must apply for this system. We’re issuing cheques to anybody who makes underneath a sure threshold,” Compton mentioned in response.
“We’ll get these funds out as rapidly as doable, and we simply haven’t had the mechanism in place to have the ability to do this, however we’ll. My anticipated date is July fifth.” – Finance Minister Darlene Compton
Compton has mentioned the province initially requested CRA ship the emergency cheques with its April GST fee. This request got here too late for the company to make the adjustment. Compton advised SaltWire Community on April 6 the province had requested CRA to concern the cheques by way of a particular fee to Islanders earlier than the July GST cheques.
However in chatting with reporters after query interval on April 28, Compton didn’t clarify why CRA couldn’t do that.
“It simply – it hasn’t occurred. We’ve not discovered a manner to try this,” Compton mentioned. “I’ll apologize to Islanders that we have not gotten it out sooner.
Compton mentioned the province lacks a capability to instantly deposit funds in Islanders’ accounts, lacks the revenue information on Islanders incomes lower than $50,000 per 12 months and lacks the workers to manage a program on this scale. She mentioned the CRA was higher outfitted to ship the cheques out.
The cheques will now be included within the July GST cheques despatched to P.E.I. households.
Chatting with reporters, Bevan-Baker mentioned the delay in issuing the cheques was “completely surprising.”
“Rising costs do not wait. We’re seeing inflation at 9 per cent a 12 months. We’re seeing spikes in heating oil – 15 cents per litre this morning,” Bevan-Baker mentioned. “That is not going to cease. So, authorities has to match that with the pace of their motion.”
Different aid packages
King’s March announcement additionally included $5 million in extra funding for present packages and companies to help low-income Islanders.
Fundings for these packages, which included a $150 fee for social help recipients and an injection of funding to permit wider entry to a Salvation Military-run dwelling heating aid program, had been disbursed. These two packages value the province about $4 million.
The funding additionally included lots of of 1000’s of extra {dollars} for non-profits, meals banks and scholar unions.
The funding additionally offered a $200 increase to the utmost quantity that recipients of the seniors’ independence initiative, which helps seniors stay in their very own houses, might obtain. Nevertheless, the yearly revenue threshold for single people remained at $26,500.
Throughout query interval, Liberal interim chief Sonny Gallant requested about an growth to the eligibility additional of the seniors’ independence initiative.
Trivers mentioned he would ask his division about increasing the eligibility.
“I believe we have to take into account transferring on this actually, actually quickly as a result of I get inquiries from the honourable member and different MLAs saying it’s not excessive sufficient,” Trivers mentioned.
One other aid program initially noticed the price of month-to-month T3 bus passes lowered to $20. This can improve in Could to $45 for adults and $35 for seniors and college students beginning. Particular person fares for rural, Charlottetown and Summerside transit traces will stay at $2.
In an interview after query interval on April 28, Transportation Minister James Aylward mentioned the price of month-to-month passes for adults was $58 previous to March.
“It was an incentive to get folks to strive it. It was a pilot,” Aylward mentioned of the two-month interval of $20 month-to-month passes. “It is nonetheless rather more reasonably priced than taking your automotive and placing it on the highway.”
Stu Neatby is a political reporter with the SaltWire Community in Prince Edward Island. @stu_neatby
