Senator Pate: Thank you very much for that, Senator Gold. Could you request from the government the rates at which they proceeded against CERB recipients through the CRA, as well as the rates at which they proceeded against companies that received the CERB for wages — and how much of that are they clawing back from companies and employers as well?

Hon. Kim Pate: My question is for the Government Representative. Senator Gold, The Globe and Mail recently exposed the existence of internal government memoranda revealing that, last winter, the CRA resumed a practice of clawing back vitally needed benefits such as the Canada Child Benefit from low-income Canadians.

The government did so with little notice while housing and food costs skyrocketed and while knowing that this would result in financial hardship.

Revelations such as these heighten the skepticism of many, especially in the current context where the government says they will try to negotiate no clawbacks of the Canada disability benefit.

What commitment can you offer persons in poverty who receive benefits from the government now, whether it be the CERB — the Canada Emergency Response Benefit — the Canada Child Benefit, the Guaranteed Income Supplement or, in the future, the Canada disability benefit, that other forms of such guaranteed livable income will be received by the people who deserve them and are eligible for them and that they will receive every penny of the benefit regardless of the threat from federal, provincial and territorial governments, insurance companies or other clawbacks?