NDP's Singh forces debate on $250 cheques for more Canadians; Conservatives cut it short

With the fate of the federal government's promised $250 cheques for 18.7 million workers hanging in the balance, the NDP forced a debate Friday on a motion pushing for the prime minister to expand eligibility. The conversation was cut short, though, by Conservative MPs' interventions.

With the fate of the federal government's promised $250 cheques for 18.7 million workers hanging in the balance, the NDP forced a debate Friday on a motion pushing for the prime minister to expand eligibility.

The conversation was cut short, though, by Conservative MPs' interventions.

After pulling his support from the measure upon discovering the government didn't intend to send the one-time benefit to non-working Canadians, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh used his party's only opposition day of the fall sitting to force a vote on the issue.

Singh wants to see the one-time rebate include "all adults whose income is under the threshold and did not earn employment income in 2023, so that people like recent graduates trying to enter the workforce, retired seniors, people with disabilities, injured workers, workers on parental leave and long-term sick leave, and others in need are included." 

This push comes more than a week after the Liberals announced they would solely advance legislation to enact the GST holiday, putting the benefit cheques on the backburner until they found a path, or the political support necessary, to successfully advance it in Parliament.

"The cheques right now that are being proposed will go out to someone earning $149,000 but won't go to a senior. That doesn't make any sense," Singh said, leading off debate in the House of Commons on Friday.

The NDP motion also calls for the two-month GST break to become permanent. The GST break passed the House and but still needs to pass the Senate before being enacted Dec. 14. A full-time break was an NDP pledge that predated the prime minister's major affordability announcement a few weeks ago.