Canada: Liberals to table new bill for stricter CERB rules, to impose penalties and jail terms for false claims
Ottawa/IBNS: Canada's Liberal government is set to impose stricter rules for claiming the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), as well as fines and jail terms for fraudulent applicants, media reports said.
The liberals are coming up with the bill amid the pressure they were facing both from the Conservatives and the National Democratic Party (NDP).
Conservatives demanded constriction of all fraudulent claims, and asked people to get back to work, while the NDP is in favour of extending the emergency aid and not go after Canadians who have filed false claims.
The proposed bill to be tabled in the House of Commons on Jun 10, lays out that Canadians will be ineligible to claim the benefit if they fail to go back to work when it is reasonable to do so, or when their employer wants them to return; fail to resume self-employment when reasonable; and if they decline a reasonable job offer when they are able to work.
The bill also lays out penalties for fraudulent applicants and those who deliberately failed to disclose sources of income or other relevant facts at the time of applying for the federal aid.
The proposed legislation for an offense could be a fine of up to $5,000, plus a penalty equal to double the amount of the income support claimed, or a fine plus a period of imprisonment up to six months,
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Jun 9 said that the bill was meant to protect the integrity of the program and to get the money out of the door for desperate Canadians.
Trudeau added that anyone who received the money in error because of unclear rules will simply be asked to repay the money and not be punished.
But all deliberate fraudsters, who collected benefits despite knowing they weren't eligible, will be severely dealt with by the government.
Meanwhile, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh accused the government of penalising people who collected benefits in error, and warned that this bill, if passed, would harm the most vulnerable Canadians and racialised people.
The Liberals have also been asked by Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer to crack down on fraudulent claims and to revamp benefit programs to motivate workers to go back to work as soon as it's safe to do so to help in the recovery of the economy.
(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
Image Credit: Justin Trudeau Facebook
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