TORONTO — An Ontario NDP petition calling on the provincial government to provide $2,000 in emergency funding to anyone who’s lost income during the COVID-19 pandemic quickly racked up 20,000 signatures and crashed the party’s website.

“We think that goes to show just how much people need direct support, now,” NDP provincial director Lucy Watson said in a statement.

Ontario is offering emergency money to people who don’t qualify for federal benefits. People can get up to $733 a month under a new emergency assistance program, Ministry of Social Services spokesperson Palmer Lockridge told HuffPost Canada in an email Friday night.

For people who will get federal benefits, Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his government’s hydro subsidies, $200 to $250 payments for parents and benefits for low-income seniors are what the province has to offer.

Ford tapped his finance minister to answer a reporter’s question Thursday about why other provinces are offering cash support for workers and renters.

“There are a number of areas where we are supporting,” Finance Minister Rod Phillips said. “Our objective is to fill in the spaces and the gaps where the federal government is not able to.”