Index Memorial Grant program
Petitioners ask the Government to increase the Memorial Grant program’s $300,000 benefit to reflect cumulative CPI growth since 2018 and to amend the program to require annual automatic CPI indexing.
Why we would sign this petition
- Restores the grant’s real value lost to inflation so surviving families receive the long-term financial support Parliament intended.
- Automatic annual CPI indexing prevents future erosion of the benefit and removes the need for ad hoc legislative increases.
- Brings the memorial grant into line with other federal benefits that are routinely indexed, improving consistency and fairness.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Indexing and raising the $300,000 benefit increases long-term federal expenditures, creating fiscal pressure and requiring offsets.
- Automatic indexation can reduce government flexibility to respond to changing fiscal priorities or emergencies.
- A permanently indexed lump sum may be less efficient than alternative supports, such as targeted income or survivor pension adjustments.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
Petition to the House of Commons in Parliament assembled WHEREAS: In 2018, the Government of Canada established the Memorial Grant Program for First Responders to provide a tax-free benefit to the surviving families of fire fighters, paramedics, police officers, and other eligible public safety personnel who lose their lives in the line of duty; The Memorial Grant Program provides a one-time benefit of $300,000, which has remained unchanged since the program was established in 2018; Since 2018, inflation has increased by approximately 25%, significantly reducing the real value of the benefit and the financial support available to surviving families; Numerous federal benefits and pension programs are automatically indexed to inflation to preserve their intended value, but not the Memorial Grant Program for First Responders; and Families of first responders who make the ultimate sacrifice in service to Canadians deserve a benefit that ensures the long-term support originally intended by Parliament. We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to: 1. Increase the Memorial Grant Program for First Responders to reflect the cumulative increase in the Consumer Price Index since the program was established in 2018; and 2. Amend the Memorial Grant Program so that the benefit is automatically indexed annually to the Consumer Price Index, as published by Statistics Canada.
Government response
No government response is available yet.