NDP Proposes Plan to Get Money into People’s Hands and Save Jobs

New Democrats are calling on the government to follow the lead of other countries and provide direct assistance to all and increase its wage subsidy to keep workers in their jobs

OTTAWA – On Monday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called on the Liberal government to cut the administrative burden by providing direct assistance to everyone in Canada and follow the lead of other countries by implementing a firing freeze by increasing its wage subsidy to businesses in order to protect Canadians from losing their jobs.

“People are understandably worried about how they’re going to pay their bills and feed their families. And while it’s a good first step, the help the Liberals have put together will only come in weeks, if not months,” said Singh. “People paying their rent this week need help in the next few days, not in weeks from now. The government needs to provide direct assistance to all Canadians and Indigenous people right now.”

The NDP is asking for the government to send a cheque of $2,000 – with an additional $250 per child – to all Canadians and Indigenous people right away. In addition, the NDP is also asking the government to increase the wage subsidy to above 75% of an employee’s salary like other countries have done. In exchange, companies will need to make a commitment to not layoff their workers.

“Tens of thousands of Canadians have already been laid-off and many more are worried about losing their jobs. Businesses have been clear, the government’s wage subsidy of 10% will not be enough to prevent layoffs,” said Singh. “To save these jobs and to make sure workers continue to get paid, the government need to step up and offer a bigger wage subsidy like other countries have done. We shouldn’t wait for more people to lose their jobs before taking the next steps. Let’s do what needs to be done and implement a firing freeze right now.”

Key Facts:

• Just a few examples of big job losses last week:
  • Fiat Chrysler – 8,900 workers out of work
  • Cirque de Soleil – 4,769 workers out of work
  • Irving Shipyard – 1,100 workers out of work
  • Casinos in Ontario – 17,600 workers out of work
  • Porter Air – 1,500 workers out of work
  • Ford Canada – 6,000 workers out of work
  • GM Canada – 3,740 workers out of work
  • Air Canada – 5,000 workers out of work
• New Zealand, Sweden, Denmark, the United Kingdom and France have already made a move to implement a similar wage subsidy to protect their workers.
• Hong Kong, Italy, Spain and France have all provided their people with assistance to help them pay their bills.