‘Grocery Rebate’ good for little more than Liberal party tweets
‘Most Canadians won’t be eligible for what little financial relief the rebate offers’
This week, the federal government will return a small portion of some Canadians’ hard-earned tax dollars to their bank accounts. The Liberals are calling the move a one-time “Grocery Rebate,” supposedly meant to make up for higher food prices caused by inflation.
However, in practice, the payment has no real connection to grocery prices or the soaring cost of living. It’s essentially a GST/HST credit top up, branded to make it look like the Liberals aren’t entirely tone deaf to the immense financial pressures felt by many Canadians. Yet the effort is such a feeble one, it reveals them to be exactly that.
To qualify for the rebate, Canadians must either have a household income of $38,000 or less, or an individual income of less than $32,000. For context, a minimum wage employee who earns $15 per hour and works 40 hours per week makes $31,200 annually. Most Canadians won’t be eligible for what little financial relief the rebate offers — and it is incredibly little.
The maximum payout for a person with no children is $234, while a couple with four children could max out at $628. Broken down, that’s $104 per family member. Keep in mind these are the maximum payouts Liberals like to tout in the press; many, if not most, recipients will receive smaller amounts.
One could be forgiven for thinking the rebate is much more substantial, given statements like this one tweeted by Liberal Minister of Sport Pascale St-Onge: “For millions of Canadians, that means hundreds of dollars directly into their pockets to help make life more affordable. Our government will always lend you a helping hand.”
The truth is the rebate does nothing to make life more affordable for Canadians. It’s a Band-Aid measure that will have no impact on inflation, no impact on food costs and no impact on the yawning gap between stagnant wages and the modern cost of living in Canada.
It fails to address the number one factor pushing Canadians to the brink of financial distress: housing costs, which now account for well over 30 per cent of many workers’ incomes.
