About that $300 affordability payment - not so fast.

I have written a lot of speeches in my day, so I have a pretty good idea what Premier Higgs speechwriter or speechwriters were thinking when they were preparing his State of the Province address. In writing a speech that the media is going to be covering, the thought forefront in the writer’s mind is what they want the next day’s headline to be. And you write with that in mind. In fact, I would go so far as to plant 20 second soundbites specifically for the broadcast media. That’s the way it works. 

And in last month’s speech, it worked like a charm. The post-speech headline on the front page of the morning papers read “Affordability payment coming for many families.” 

That’s an attention grabbing headline. But more than that it’s a story in which many New Brunswickers who are struggling financially saw as a little relief. So the disappointment and anger emerging now that they find out that that financial relief isn’t for them, is quite understandable. In short, the Premier got their hopes up, and then dashed them with the details.  

The government could say the media didn’t report the announcement accurately, but wait. This from the news release on the government’s own website: “Higgs announced that, to support lower-income workers, the government is investing $79.5 million in a new affordability measure, which will consist of a one-time payment of $300 for families with a net income of $70,000 or less. It is expected to benefit about 265,000 families.” 

Not a mention that they have to have earned employment income of at least $3000 in 2022 or 2023.  

So, with Premier Higgs now defending himself by saying he has been consistent in always saying it was meant as relief for lower-income workers, that’s a little disingenuous. Technically it’s true, but the way he delivered that message implied it would include retired seniors, people on social assistance and people living on their disability cheque. At least that’s the way people interpreted it.  

Also, once he saw the coverage and saw that it wasn’t accurate, or more precisely didn’t convey what he meant, you’d think his response would have been to immediately issue a clarification. But he didn’t do that. He just let the misinterpretation sit there and simmer for a month. Why?  

To be fair, the government has brought in other programs that help groups being excluded here, including social assistance recipients, and low income seniors. So, my point isn’t that they were excluded. It’s that the government wasn’t straightforward in its announcement. And by “not straightforward” I mean it misled people.  

In his State of the Province speech, the Premier said the money would benefit 250 thousand households. But according to the CBC, which dug into the numbers available through Statistics Canada, once you eliminate those people who have now found out they don’t qualify, there isn’t anywhere near 250,000 people left who do qualify. In fact, apparently the number of families who qualify is more in the neighbourhood of 170 thousand.

Randy Hatfield, Photo Credit: CBC

And even of that number, not all will ever see the money. Human Development Council Executive Director Randy Hatfield is quoted in the Telegraph Journal saying he fears many families will be left out simply because they need to apply. As he puts it “Low-income people really have difficulty navigating systems. It’s a burden on people who are unfamiliar with the application process. You have to make it as simple as possible, and I’m not sure this application process accomplishes that.”

He continued “I wouldn’t consider it particularly onerous, but that’s me sitting here with three university degrees. We too often forget the challenge and the digital divide that affects access to programs and benefits.”

It’s hard to fathom why the Premier wasn’t more forthcoming from the get-go on this. I’m not cynical enough to think it was only to get a positive headline, as he had to have known that his misleading people would come back to bite him eventually. So I’m baffled. It sure underlines the old adage “the devil is in the details” though, doesn’t it.

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