My Wife Applies for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit

This post will not be very long, for my wife arrived home in the early afternoon and will probably be staying here for most of the week (she tends to spend her weekends somewhere in Vancouver ─ such is my sorry marriage).

I expressed in yesterday's post that I intended to let my younger brother know that evening that I was not going to sit up into the midnight hour operating our T9 Android 8.1 TV Box to fetch episodes of some of the T.V. series we follow, and I held true to that prediction.

I was into my bed a little ahead of 10:00 p.m.

I hate wasting the early a.m. hours by going to bed late and being unable to rise very early to achieve anything in the quiet of the night.

I now cannot recall when it was that I rose overnight, but it might have been 1:30 a.m. And after dealing with E-mails and then putting some work into the post I am constructing at one of my six hosted websites, I think that I returned to bed ahead of 5:00 a.m.

I next rose nigh 9:30 a.m., by which time my brother was downstairs watching T.V. However, I waited until 10:00 a.m. before joining him, putting our Android TV Box back into action.

I was delighted when he announced at noon that he was going to seek some bed rest because he had a number of errands he wanted to get out to perform.

I had some exercise scheduled for the backyard toolshed today, but my wife arrived home before I got out there to deal with them. As a result, when I eventually did tackle them, I had to truncate the session. Part of the reason for that was that my youngest stepson had come out to solicit some help on behalf of his older brother who was trying to get his mother set up with a claim for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit that became available as of today.

The lad needed to know what figure was entered on her 2018 tax return at line 101, so I had to go and dig out her draft copy.

The government claims that this special Employment Insurance (E.I.) dispensation for benefits will result in a $500 weekly payment for everyone who qualifies:

The Canada Emergency Response Benefit provides temporary income support to workers who have stopped working and are without employment or self-employment income for reasons related to COVID-19 or to individuals who are eligible for Employment Insurance regular or sickness benefits.

The new Canada Emergency Response Benefit provides $500 per week. A maximum 16 weeks of benefits can be paid.

The benefit is available from March 15, 2020, to October 3, 2020. You can apply no later than December 2, 2020. 

The further promise is that claimants on direct deposit will receive their first $500 payment in a mere three days; it can take up to 10 days to receive a payment by cheque.

The thing is, my wife already applied for sick E.I. benefits back on February 15 after having to go part-time at the Thai restaurant where she works. Her doctor prescribed the reduction. And so my wife ─ who was experiencing chronic pain in one of her arms from repetitive kitchen work ─ got to become a part-time server.

The restaurant didn't really need another server, but my wife is a good friend of her boss.

Then came the complete public COVID-19 lockdown of any places where the public might gather ─ including bars and restaurants. The restaurant can still operate as a Thai delivery service, but it cannot have patrons anymore until this public health lockdown comes to a close.

Since my wife no longer has customers to serve, she no longer has a part-time job. Only the kitchen is operating.

And so she wanted to open up a new E.I. claim today.

Now, you may wonder why she doesn't just solicit to have her present claim turned into a Canada Emergency Response Benefit?

Well, she applied for her sick E.I. benefits back on February 15...and as yet she has not received any payment whatsoever. She can't get through to speak to someone when she telephones because so many people are now trying to also place calls.

And all of the Service Canada offices are closed ─ she can't visit one in person and speak to someone to find out what's holding up her sick E.I. claim. 

What else can she do? Supposedly all of the new claimants who file today will start getting money in three days if they opt for direct deposit. Yet my wife has received nothing since applying back on February 15.

Where is the justice?

She wouldn't even have been getting $500 a week for her claim ─ this is a limited-time special benefit being made to all who are unable to work:

The Canada Emergency Response Benefit is available to those who stop working for reasons related to COVID-19. Examples of stopping to work could include but are not limited to:

• You have been let go from your job or your hours have been reduced to zero;
• You are in quarantine or sick due to COVID-19;
• You are away from work to take care of others because they are in quarantine, sick due to COVID-19; and/or
• You are away from work to take care of children or other dependents whose care facility is closed due to COVID-19.

You can also apply for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit if you are eligible for Employment Insurance regular or sickness benefits.

You are not eligible for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit if you quit your job voluntarily.

And this:

When you apply for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, you will receive $500 per week, regardless of what you may have been eligible to receive through Employment Insurance.

However, you retain your eligibility to receive for Employment Insurance after you stop receiving the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, and the period that you received the CERB does not impact your EI entitlement.  

And finally, this:

The benefit will be available to workers:

• Residing in Canada, who are at least 15 years old;
• Who have stopped working because of COVID-19 or are eligible for Employment Insurance regular or sickness benefits;
• Who had income of at least $5,000 in 2019 or in the 12 months prior to the date of their application; and
• Who are or expect to be without employment or self-employment income for at least 14 consecutive days in the initial four-week period. For subsequent benefit periods, they expect to have no employment or self-employment income.

The income of at least $5,000 may be from any or a combination of the following sources: employment and self-employment. For those who are not eligible for Employment Insurance you may also include maternity and parental benefits under the Employment Insurance program and/or similar benefits paid in Quebec under the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan as part of the calculation for income.

So maybe she did right in pushing to be included in the new benefit even though she has a sick claim filed ─ it's 1½ months old, and has not yet resulted in any financial help at all. For all we know, her claim has been filed away in some virtual desk drawer and has been forgotten or lost. 

I guess we'll know in three days' time if this emergency claim will get processed and pay anything out. 

Gosh, it's already nearing 8:30 p.m. ─ I have to get this post finished.  

All else I want to say is that we've had a sunny day, and I got to spend just over 40 minutes of it this afternoon sitting outside in the backyard in a lawn- or deckchair with my bared feet on the ground. I didn't even need a jacket ─ for the first time this year.

I hope everyone reading this is healthy and safe.

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