SaltWire Network | Posted: 1 hour ago | Updated: 20 hours ago | 3 Min Read
On the one hand, vaccine doses and support payments were provided quickly, but on the other, the rush meant a lack of oversight that contributed to wastage. As of May 2022, there were 2.5 million doses in Canada’s storage cabinet. It’s not like we’re throwing out stale crackers here — those vaccines are worth $1 billion in public funds.
The benefit programs put in place were unprecedented in terms of their breadth and urgency, the AG noted, and existing government systems were quickly repurposed to implement them. Statistics Canada has suggested that without those benefits, the poverty rate would have reached 11.6 per cent in 2020 instead of the actual rate of 6.4 per cent. And, as was intended, low-income workers benefited most.
And, the after-the-fact verification processes are so slow that the amounts owing to the government may never be collected in the legislated time allowed.