Federal help to buy groceries hailed by some, but not nearly enough for others

Cash from Canada’s Groceries and Essentials Benefit is officially landing in bank accounts across the country and one Winnipeg business owner said the one-time payment will “of course” help people deal with rising prices.

About 460,000 Manitobans will receive the cash in amounts varying based on household — from $267 for a single adult with no children to $533 for a couple with two kids.

Behailu Sebreszabher, who owns Raei Convenience and Halal Meat Ltd. with his brother, said the federal cheques will ensure customers keep coming through the door.

“The way I’m busy now, I’m just happy if customers are getting more,” he said.

Building on the GST/HST credit usually paid out quarterly, the one-time payment is a major part of the Liberals’ plan to help Canadians. It’s worth about 50 per cent of the annual benefit, with regular quarterly payments climbing by 25 per cent for the next five years as well, starting in July.

Announced in January, the payments are part of $3.1 billion in federal government support and will reach a total of 12 million Canadians. A news release from Ottawa said the support is needed as the world economy goes through a rapid transformation “thrusting countries, businesses, and workers into a period of uncertainty.”

Louise Barker, who was walking near Notre Dame Avenue Friday, said the of cash is just not enough to make a real difference.

“I’ve got, like, five people to feed besides myself,” she said. “That wouldn’t even cover very much in groceries. Everything went up.”

Branden Desmarais, who was in the parking lot outside a No Frills store, said the cash is a “drop in the bucket.”

“It’s not really too beneficial,” he said. “It helps us for a week or two and then it’s on us for the rest of the year?”

However, Harvest Manitoba CEO and president Vince Barletta said the payment will make a difference for the food bank’s clients, the majority of whom have $100 or less a week budgeted for groceries.

“We’re seeing record numbers of Canadians going to food banks,” he said. “That’s real dollars going into the pockets of millions of Canadians that could really use it right now.”

Federal Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Rebecca Alty, who joined Barletta Friday to announce that the payments were starting to flow said this round of payments is just “part of the puzzle” to making life more affordable.

“I can appreciate today that folks have money in their pocket to be able to make more of those purchases, but for me, it’s just a start” she said.

morgan.modjeski@freepress.mb.ca