Index the First Responders Memorial Grant

AI summary

Petitioners ask the Government of Canada to increase the Memorial Grant Program for First Responders (currently $300,000) to reflect cumulative CPI since 2018 and to amend it for automatic annual CPI indexing.

AI summaries describe petitioners’ requests and claims. Consult the official record for the full text.

Official petition

Petition to the House of Commons in Parliament assembled 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.