Jobs, CERB, and everything that has gone awry with COVID-19 realities
I wanted to stay away from social media for some time, detoxing myself of the negativity prevailing lately. Then I see the headlines ‘CRA claims CERB back from 400,000+ Canadians based on income eligibility criteria’, and I feel compelled to say something.
There is a debate around the net and gross income differences that has caused this confusion for the self-employed. If CRA itself was not clear in wording the criteria properly, how is it fair to expect a common man/woman trying to keep their home and family afloat to wear an accountant’s hat before applying? I am wondering why is there even an income eligibility criteria in the first place?
It is a known fact that the Canadian job market is not easy to break into. Regardless of an individual’s skillset, we need to network, be in the right place and know the right people to even get to an interview. After having uprooted everything from their home country and unable to start a new life because of a lack of Canadian experience, contacts, and economic opportunities, immigrants have had a particularly tough time. All this even before COVID-19 happened.
There were enough unemployed or under-employed people and struggling as it was, and COVID-19 disrupted their lives worse than everyone else. How fair is it to starve them off from benefits when they had already depleted their savings, contributing to the economy through taxes on goods and services? Oh right! They don’t deserve to live because they did not meet the $5,000 income criteria?
Since the criteria are still the same, are these 400,000+ Canadians not eligible for Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) as well? Children are now in remote schools, and parents have to double up as part-time teachers on top of everything else that they are dealing with. They are not eligible for Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) because they do not meet the income criteria?
Someone falls sick with COVID-19 but cannot apply for Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) because, oh, they should have made $5,000 in a closed job market before deciding to fall sick! The only way to survive is to find a job or start a small business, but there is a COVID-19 second wave and a province-wide second lockdown from December 26 onwards. A deadlock situation to effectively seal the fate of people, forcing and nudging them towards slow suicide. What a fantastic holiday gift!
It is appalling to see some people on social media rubbing it in the face with so-called customer-obsessed company strategies when the same customers, who are also disgruntled employees of the same companies, are going through an existential crisis. Customers are unable to afford the products, let alone indulge in being wooed and being obsessed about. For once, why can’t the big companies that can afford to, obsess on humanity instead? Why not create and offer jobs without bias and provide a livelihood for people to afford their products? Why not for once care beyond the balance sheets?
I applied for CERB in March 2020, and when I saw the ever-changing vague rules around it and unwarranted imprisonment threats in the news, I did not want to take any chances and returned all the CERB to CRA, even though every cell in my body was screaming for justice. I sold my house, paid a massive penalty to the uncompromising bank for pre-closing a fixed mortgage.
I have an engineering degree from India, an MBA degree from Canada, and I persevered at self-employment and am still pushed to this situation. I could not imagine the plight of people who did not even have the little privilege that I did.
There were endless questions in my head, and I was sick of it all. I wanted to stay away from social media as much as possible, get away from everything, and continue my fight to live until there comes the point where it becomes impossible to continue. Then, I read about the news of 400,000 odd people pushed to the same circumstances that I am going through, and I could not keep quiet.
I am a law-abiding person, whether in my home country or as a permanent resident in Canada. I had faith in the government and its policies. Now, I am starting to believe the conspiracy theories more because that seems to make more sense than the reality in and around me.
Today is December 21, 2020. Astronomers are talking about the Christmas star, the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the sky after 800 years. The astrologers have made many interpretations of oppression and rebellion caused by this celestial event. It seems like the big wigs are ensuring the great implementation of the great conjunction. Great job!
