Risk recognition pay ready to roll out this week

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This article was published 30/07/2020 (1891 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The 78,442 successful applicants to the province’s Risk Recognition Program will each be getting a payment of $1,377 this week.

Those chosen to receive the pay will get an email when the money has been direct-deposited into their bank accounts, Premier Brian Pallister said during a Wednesday morning media conference.

First announced in early June, the program was created as a way of thanking front-line workers who continued to work and put themselves at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We want to say we appreciate your work and we thank you for it,” Pallister said Wednesday.

The set of conditions applicants had to meet to qualify for the program was criticized as being too restrictive when it came to the professions and income levels qualifying for the money. That led to the province consulting with various stakeholder groups and expanding who qualified for the program.

Asked about the amount of time it has taken for the money to roll out, Pallister said he didn’t think a month since applications closed was excessive for a program of this size.

“It’s important to get it right. Important to make sure you’re not sending out cheques and asking for them back, to make sure because we’re dividing it between the eligible recipients that we had a pretty accurate number. I would argue four weeks is not a long time to roll out a program of this complexity.”

Speaking to the Sun after the announcement, Brandon Community Options executive director Brenda Elmes said that she had started to wonder if the money from the program was ever going to come. However, she said the amount of money going out per person was more than she expected.

“I think at this point, anything is helpful,” she said. “To be honest, we didn’t know what the final outcome would be. Some thought it would be even less than a thousand dollars. … I’m happy with that. I’m thinking that something is better than nothing and the acknowledgment (as well) … $1,000 can help anybody these days.”

The last time the Sun spoke with Elmes in June, she said her staff at the non-profit agency that provides day time and residential options for adults living with a mental disability had experienced burnout due to the extra work they’ve had to put in during the pandemic. She said that’s still a concern, but the workload is no longer as heavy as it used to be.

Of the 10 employees the organization planned to hire to help deal with the extra work, Elmes said they’ve hired five so far.

In an emailed statement, Family Visions Inc. executive director Kim Longstreet said she was less concerned about the time it took to roll out the program because of problems the federal government has seen with Canada Emergency Response Benefit payments going to ineligible people.

However, she expressed disappointment with the number of front-line workers who didn’t qualify.

“I am happy to hear that the front-line workers who are eligible will soon be receiving their portion of the Risk Recognition Program funding,” she wrote. “It is still disappointing for me to know that many front-line workers have not been able to benefit from the program to have their risk recognized. I had encouraged all of my staff to apply for the program regardless of their eligibility simply for the government to understand how many front-line staff would be impacted because of ineligibility. I am unaware of how many Family Visions employees applied and were approved or denied.”

Recipients are getting an equal share of the $120-million fund, $90 million of which comes from the federal government, with the remaining $30 million coming from the provincial government.

The gross pay is actually $1,530, but the province is remitting a 10 per cent withholding tax it says will help recipients when it comes time to file their 2020 income tax return with the Canada Revenue Agency. That brings the deposit amount down to $1,377.

More than 90,000 people applied for the fund, but the premier said the discrepancy between that figure and the final number of recipients was due to applicants who applied for the money but were ultimately deemed to be ineligible.

“Payment recipients include 37,060 public-facing essential roles in retail services and lodging, 27,085 in health care, 9,325 in social services and 3,440 in transportation,” a release sent out by the province said.

Pallister received multiple questions about the province’s plans for the upcoming school year during the conference, but deferred to Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen and said he would be unveiling plans before the end of this week.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

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