The federal government’s financial boost for people who can’t work under the COVID-19 pandemic must include workers with reduced hours and post-secondary students, a Conservative MP in B.C.’s Okanagan region says.
Dan Albas, the MP for Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola, said many of his constituents say they’re not covered by the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, for which applications opened on Monday.
The benefit offers $500 a week for up to 16 weeks. “The government has been somewhat inconsistent with who can receive the benefit, and obviously there are a number of people that are in very dire straits that want to have some certainty,” Albas told Global News.