By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Some of Canada’s biggest corporations received a pandemic subsidy intended to keep their employees on the payroll, but a new report finds that in many cases, these large companies actually reduced employment while padding the pockets of shareholders.

These findings, from a report by Canadians for Tax Fairness, should make Canadians angry and point to a double standard, the federal NDP’s finance critic Daniel Blaikie told Canada’s National Observer in an interview. It is “egregious” for the federal government to have the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) “hound” some individuals who applied for and received financial support through emergency programs like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) to return the money, he added.