Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Early on in the pandemic I think many Canadians felt that $2,000 a month—$500 a week—was a very sensible amount. Since July, when the government unilaterally reduced the amount from $2,000 to $1,200—a 40% decrease in the amount of the benefit—anyone who's been trying to live on $1,200 a month knows that it's just woefully inadequate.
If the government actually wants to plausibly claim it's trying to deliver meaningful help to people, I think it's important that the benefit amount correspond to that. That's why I'm moving this amendment on behalf of the NDP, to raise the lockdown benefit amount from $300 a week to $500 a week.