Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for working with us to make sure people get the benefits they need right now. We are disappointed that it took until midnight last night, when benefits ended. The government should have done this and worked with all of us in Parliament in August instead of proroguing. We can agree with the opposition side on that.
I received an email from Claire. Her son Sam in Vancouver is 32, lives with autism and receives disability benefits. He gets about $1,183 a month and barely gets by. The poverty rate in B.C. is $1,666 a month. He experienced a renoviction and ended up having to leave his place in the middle of the pandemic. He receives a bus pass too, which he cannot use right now, so he had to buy a bike. He is now paying $750 a month for accommodation, which means he has $443 to pay for food, clothing and personal supplies. Anyone who has been to Vancouver knows that is not enough.
The $600 that was promised to people with disabilities still has not happened. Here we are at midnight helping people with CERB and the other benefits, but where are the benefits for people living with disabilities who have been waiting for them?
Will this member advocate for the government to fix this immediately to help people like Sam?