The federal government’s plan to send $250 cheques to working Canadians is officially off the table, Public Works Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced.
Blacklock's Reporter says acting as the Prime Minister’s “Québec lieutenant,” Duclos explained that shifting priorities have rendered the $4.7 billion initiative untimely.
“The $250 cheques were designed in a world where there was no Mr. Trump,” Duclos told reporters.
“Yes, it was recognized at the time that there were significant pressures on the cost of living. People were talking to us all the time about the cost of living. But now the concerns also recognize that we have a threat south of the border. This is where we also have to invest.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau originally announced the proposal on November 21, promising to provide relief to Canadians earning less than $150,000 annually.
“Everybody had to tighten their belts a little bit,” Trudeau said at the time. “Now we’re going to be able to give a tax break for all Canadians.”
Critics were quick to question the program’s practicality.
“How does the government plan to pay for this?” a reporter asked during the initial announcement. “Canada has the strongest balance sheet in the G7,” Trudeau replied, emphasizing that the relief was targeted at working Canadians who were feeling the squeeze from rising costs.
Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs opposed the measure from the outset, while New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh initially supported it, only to withdraw his backing upon learning the terms excluded non-working Canadians.
“We were told it would be anyone earning less than $150,000 who would get this,” Singh said on November 25. “We assumed that would include obviously seniors, people living with disabilities, and students. Right now, we have learned it is going to exclude the most vulnerable. That is wrong.”
Pressed further, Singh expressed frustration with the lack of clarity.
“Liberals need to fix the cheques,” he said repeatedly when asked for specifics.
Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet also expressed confusion over the NDP’s initial support, telling the Commons, “I don’t understand how the Liberals got the NDP to support them on this. I’d like to know how.”
Duclos, meanwhile, reiterated that new global economic challenges, particularly those posed by U.S. trade and competitiveness issues, have forced the government to shift its focus.
“We now have the threat of Mr. Trump, of the issues of competitiveness, investment, tariffs, which obviously leads us to refocus our actions and our investments,” Duclos said.