Recommending against clawbacks: Why is the federal government so reluctant to tell other governments how its money should be spent?
It took federal Minister Carla Qualtrough an agonizing 19 days to inform the public that she wanted Canada’s Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) to be exempt from clawbacks under provincial and territorial social assistance and disability support programs. The CERB was introduced on March 25, 2020, and her public admonition came on April 13 in a statement through her spokesperson to the Toronto Star. She did not make the announcement on television. She did not make the announcement at all. “Our government believes the CERB needs to be considered exempt by provinces and territories in the same way as the Canada Child Benefit to ensure vulnerable Canadians do not fall behind,” said Marielle Hossack in an emailed statement. Some of us had been asking for this for over two weeks and…