Andrea

Social worker, Post-secondary professional, Gallup certified Strengths coach, poet, beader, reader, and cat lover. Believer in empathy and kindness. 💗

[Andrea @abdavis18]

@SarahWorkx It's the tab that goes inside a wrist watch to connect it the clock base and the wrist strap @SarahWorkx

[Melanie In Saskatchewan @saskatchewan_in]

When my husband died in late summer last year, my daughter and I didn't just lose him.

We lost more than half our household income overnight.
Suddenly, every dollar had a job. Every bill became a math problem.

Because my income dropped so dramatically, I became eligible for a GST rebate of about $435.

To some people, that might sound like a nice little bonus.
To people like me, trying to live on less than $27,000 a year, it's not spending money. It's survival money.

Where I live, water, garbage, and recycling cost me $520 every three months. Coincidentally, those bills arrive around the same time as the GST rebate.

So the GST cheque doesn't buy treats. It doesn't fund vacations. It doesn't even make life easier.

It mostly disappears into a utility bill before I can blink.

Today I'm sharing screenshots from my CRA account to demonstrate the federal government's latest affordability miracle with their renamed GST benefit masquerading as the Groceries and Essentials Benefit.

My GST rebate went up.
By six dollars.
Not sixty.
Not six hundred.
Six.

Apparently somewhere in Ottawa, somebody looked at the affordability crisis facing Canadians and thought:

"Hmm, needs more half sandwich."🤔

What makes this worse is knowing there are millions of Canadians out there who need help just as badly as I do, but don't qualify for a penny of it.

People working two jobs.
People trying to raise families.
Seniors watching every grocery bill climb higher.
People doing everything right and still falling behind.

So to @MarkJCarney, I have a simple question.

Why are you celebrating the existence of a Grocery and Essentials Benefit instead of asking why Canadians need one in the first place? How much did it cost taxpayers for the photo-op? Do you not see the hypocrisy in it?

Because that is the part I can't understand. A government should not be standing in a grocery store congratulating itself for handing back a few dollars of taxpayers' own money.

A government should be creating the conditions where people can afford groceries without government assistance.

The goal should be fewer Canadians needing benefits, not more!

I'm not proud to qualify for this.
👉🏻 I don't want to qualify for a government cheque.
👉🏻 I don't want to qualify for a renamed GST rebate.
👉🏻 I don't want my kid to qualify for a school lunch program because parents can no longer afford lunches.

I want an economy where ordinary Canadians can stand on their own feet and keep more of what they earn and be proud about it.

The fact that Ottawa felt the need to rename the GST rebate to include the words "Groceries and Essentials" should have set off alarm bells in every cabinet office in the country.

Because groceries and essentials are not luxuries. If Canadians need government assistance to afford the basics of life, that is not evidence of success.

It's evidence that something has gone very badly wrong.

What makes it even harder to stomach is watching a government talk about borrowing billions for new projects and sovereign wealth funds while ordinary Canadians are being told to celebrate an extra six dollars.

Six dollars!
That's not economic leadership.
That's a receipt. Perhaps the question Canadians should be asking is this:

If #MarkCarney's resume is as impressive as advertised, why do the results look like this?

At some point, Canadians stop listening to credentials and start looking at outcomes. And the outcomes are speaking for themselves!

[Andrea @abdavis18]

@CliftonStrength Everything happens for a reason.

[Scott Dworkin @funder]

We’ll release our new video when this tweet gets 1,000 replies with the hashtag #JusticeForBreonnaTaylor

[Mary Chieffo (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈 @marythechief]

yInlu'meH QaQ jajvam! It is a good day to live!

Listen to science. Wearing a mask is an act of empathy & respect for the health & safety of those around you. As a wise Vulcan once said, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the of the few...or the one.” #LLAP #WearAMask

[Rachel Notley @RachelNotley]

❗️BREAKING❗️

The UCP is illegally withholding the annual report of the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund to make it harder for people to oppose what they're doing with Albertans' pensions.

THREAD #ableg

[Brandi Morin @Songstress28]

WOW Blackfoot Confederacy Nations from Treaty 7 is urging Premier ⁦@jkenney⁩ to dismiss his speechwriter Paul Bunner for his views regarding residential school system. Treaty 6 is asking for the same.

[Carl Boucher @CarlBoucherKnee]

I know no one talks about it anymore, but remember how Jason Kenney was under investigation for cheating in his nomination election and then just fired the guy who was investigating him? He is corrupt. To the core.

#FiretheUCP

[DWade @DwyaneWade]

Here’s a thought... How about we arrest the police officers that killed #BreonnaTaylor

[Margaret E Atwood @MargaretAtwood]

Past #plagues offer lessons for society: https://t.co/WS3NTTKriu

[Barack Obama @BarackObama]

On National Gun Violence Awareness Day, we #WearOrange to honor the victims and survivors of gun violence––which continues to disproportionately harm Black communities. Then keep speaking up, voting, and changing laws across the country.

[LeVar Burton @levarburton]

Dear White America,
As difficult and disturbing as it is to see police officers using violent and excessive force to subdue peaceful protesters, do NOT look away! If these images make your blood boil... welcome to the struggle.

Sincerely,
Kunta

[Kamala Harris @KamalaHarris]

The officers who murdered Breonna Taylor nearly three months ago still have not been charged. We can’t forget about Black women in our quest for justice.

[Kamala Harris @KamalaHarris]

All Black Lives Matter—that includes Black trans women.

[Paula Weimer @palalaland]

@emsal93

[Joe Ceci @joececiyyc]

Poll after poll shows that Alberta is rejecting @jkenney's agenda. He has shamelessly attacked doctors while they face a massive public health crisis. He defended disgraced Health Minister @shandro. He laid off tens of thousands of people. Enough. #ableg https://t.co/MY5rupz0TN

[Gadi Schwartz @GadiNBC]

Watch all of this.