Federal Child Tax Credit

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Mar 02 2006 17:14:00 - Source: POL [The Canadian Press]

Liberals admit can't keep promise to end clawback of federal child tax credit (Ont-Poverty-Clawback)
By Keith Leslie

TORONTO (CP) _ Ontario families on welfare and disability assistance may have to wait until after the 2007 election before the Liberals keep their promise to end a clawback of a federal child tax credit, Social Services Minister Sandra Pupatello admitted Thursday.

Pupatello said she didn't know if the government could keep the promise made by Premier Dalton McGuinty during the 2003 election campaign because of the $5.5-billion deficit left by the previous Conservative government.

``They were not honest with the public,'' Pupatello said of the Conservatives. "We had a massive deficit, and that altered our time frame for every significant program which was part of our platform. I believe that the Ontario public understands that.''

Families with an income of less than $22,600 a year are entitled to a supplementary federal payment of about $125 per child each month, in addition to the Canada Child Tax Benefit.

But it is clawed back from those on social assistance or disability payments, costing the poorest families about $1,500 a year, said New Democrat Leader

Howard Hampton

"I think that's disgraceful,'' Hampton said. ``And I think once again it shows just how shallow some of the McGuinty promises were.''

Pupatello was under attack in the legislature after a report released Thursday by Ontario Campaign 2000 found 443,000 children in the province are living in poverty.

The report concluded that Ontario's child poverty rate is stalled at 16 per cent, and asked the government to end the clawback of child benefits from families on social assistance.

"We're calling for a political commitment from Premier Dalton McGuinty and his colleagues to implement an Ontario action plan for children with an initial commitment of up to $1 billion in the upcoming spring budget,'' said Campaign 2000 co-ordinator Jacquie Maund.

"The social security net is not preventing families from falling deep into poverty."

Pupatello said she wished the Liberal mandate was longer so they could end the clawback, even though it was her government that set fixed election dates every four years, down from the previous maximum of five years.

"It's not going to be as long as I would have hoped it was, but we do need those extra years," she said.

Hampton said the Liberals and everyone else knew the deficit was bigger than the previous Conservative government admitted, but still made expensive campaign promises that couldn't be kept.

"The McGuinty government is now in its third year," he said.

"It's time for Dalton McGuinty to start taking responsibility for his own government, and for his broken promises, rather than blaming the federal government or the former government."


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