Anti-poverty organizations say inflation relief measures miss the mark

The federal government unveiled billions of dollars in new affordability measures Tuesday to target low and modest income earners, but those on the front lines of the poverty fight say the relief pales in comparison to what's needed.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled three new supports in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, where the Liberal caucus is holding a retreat. The relief includes a temporary doubling of the GST tax credit, dental care for uninsured kids under age 12, and a $500 one-time payment for low-income renters.

• Read the details of the government's supports here 

To qualify, recipients must have filed the previous year's taxes and make less than certain net income thresholds. The government estimates a single person with one child and $30,000 in net income would receive $1,160 this year, while a couple with two children and $35,000 in net income would receive $1,401. 

For the Canada Dental Benefit, a sliding scale is in place. Those with a net family income of under $70,000 get the full $650 payment. The amount is cut to $390 for those earning $70,000 to $79,999, and those earning $80,000 to $89,999 will recieve $260. Those earning more don't qualify.

For the Canada Housing Benefit, an estimated 1.8 million people who spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent will get the full amount of $500. Families with a net income below $35,000 and singles earning less than $20,000 qualify.

Trudeau said payments should go out later this year.

"What we're doing with these specific measures is targeting those most vulnerable those who are most hard hit by the increases in inflation," Trudeau explained.

NON-PROFITS REACT

Canada Without Poverty thinks Ottawa is missing the mark, pointing out requiring people to have filed their taxes, and demonstrate their rent is more than 30 per cent of income excludes several groups such as those who are couch surfing, people without homes, and unviersity students who are resorting to renting Airbnbs because of a lack of housing supply. She added the dental benefit would likely only cover cleanings and not more complicated procedures.

The non-profit says a guaranteed liveable wage is the kind of policy needed to address long-term poverty. National coordinator Emilly Renaud told CTV News that while the money was welcome, she'd also like to see more housing built, and for local solutions to help with food insecurity.

"I think sometimes when we think about affordable affordability, we think about low income families and people who are just around the poverty line. And we tend to ignore people who are in most critical need and those are usually people who don't even have housing," Renaud added.

In B.C., housing unaffordability has been an issue for years. The NDP campaigned on a promise to address the issue, and recently capped rent increases for 2022 at two per cent.

Douglas King, executive director of the Together Against Poverty Society, believes the key is to make housing cheaper in the long run.

"While the provincial government announced last week that the cap on rent will be limited this year, there's still silence on whether or not they're looking at the possibility of vacancy control, which is capping the rent in between tenancies when one tenancy ends and a new one begins."

He believes such a measure is key to keeping rents in check. He also noted charities that provide food are struggling with demand.

"It's really a warning sign. It's kind of like a glaring sign that we have some really serious problems that are only going to get worse if we don't do some pretty significant change," King added.

The grassroots Disability Without Poverty organization is hoping Ottawa will make good on a promise to implement a national disability benefit. It also wants to make sure there's no clawback on provincial supports. Kate Fish, is a community organizer and told CTV many people with disabilities are hanging on by a thread.

"People in British Columbia who are receiving disability benefits or instance, they're receiving $1,358 a month, which we know even before inflation was not enough money to survive on," she said.

The organization believes its time to upgrade benefit programs and index them to inflation. She said many people with disabilities also pay a “disability tax,” which is costs for things like medication, therapies, medical supplies or wound care.

Fish's advice to politicians?

"Change your legislation so that you are not providing them with poverty level benefits,” he said. “The baseline issue here is people aren't even provided with enough to even meet poverty level survival in our country – which is not adequate."