i want to walk back something i said about the gst rebate the other day because i appear to have been mislead.

the initial reports said the gst rebate would increase by 25% for the next four years.

what that usually means is 25% per year for the next for years. for me, that would be:

(540*1.25^4 - 540) = (1318.36 - 540) = 778.36

778.36/4 = 194.59, and that's almost back to where the carbon tax rebates were, at around $200/quarter.

i therefore suggested the gst rebates were replacing the abolished carbon tax rebates, which were abruptly taken away without compensation, which was extremely harmful to almost all low income canadians.

however, that appears to not be what the government intended. rather, they appear to be using confusing language, and apparently meant that they are going to increase the amount once by 25%, and take it away after four years. that would amount to an extra (540*1.25-540) = $135/year over the next four years. quarterly, that would be $33.75 per check for the next four years, and then that will apparently disappear, as well.

i understand that it's an hst rebate, so it's intended to return the amount of taxes i paid on groceries. for myself, because i actually buy food when i'm at the grocery store, i pay essentially no taxes on groceries. food is not taxed in canada. the only item in my normal diet with hst added to it is doritos. the items that i would buy at a grocery store that are taxed are thing like toothpaste and shampoo, and when you add it up entirely, i probably make money quarter over quarter on the gst rebate.

but this does not come close to replacing the carbon tax rebate checks, or the increasing amounts that ow income canadians were set to receive from it in upcoming years, and the government disappointingly still has no plan put forward to replace those quarterly subsidies.

i qualified for the dtc, and i have been able to replace that lost subsidy with the cdb, and then some. i also qualified for the cohb. overall, i'm better off than i was last year, as i found ways to compensate.

many canadians did not and i am still looking to this government to explain how it intends to compensate low income canadians for the ghosted carbon tax rebate checks.