OTTAWA — Chris Sherlock is facing possible eviction because of unanticipated clawbacks to the guaranteed income supplement for seniors. The 65-year-old resident of British Columbia’s Cowichan Valley drew on emergency benefits last year after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out his part-time work as a musician.
Now the $2,000 a month in Canada Emergency Response Benefit he received through much of 2020 has rendered him ineligible for the income supplement typically available to low-income seniors. ”This comes as a complete shock to me,” said Sherlock, who worked on contract as a tree planter for two decades and has no company pension.
“No one warned me that I would be losing my guaranteed income supplement because of this. There was nothing about having your pension cut in half for the next two years.”
Sherlock is not the only one blindsided.
New Democrats and Greens say they’ve have been flooded with calls from Canadians aged 65 and up who suddenly find themselves cut off from monthly government payments due to the pandemic benefits they relied on last year.
Source:ctvnews.ca
