44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 26, 2023 02:00PM
- Apr/26/23 3:18:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is right. Stephen Harper shocked the world at the World Economic Forum, saying that major transformations were coming to seniors pensions. This meant raising the age of retirement from 65 to 67 and forcing vulnerable Canadians to work longer before having access to their hard-earned pensions.
Can the Prime Minister please update the House on what our government has done to fix that reckless mistake?
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- Apr/26/23 3:18:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Mississauga—Lakeshore for his tireless advocacy and his hard work.
Indeed, one of the very first things we did when we took office was cancel the Harper Conservatives' plan for seniors and bring the age of retirement back down to 65. Instead of cutting OAS and GIS payments as they did, we raised them, and that led to us having the lowest poverty rates among seniors in the world. Now, we are trying to get the new grocery rebate legislation through the Senate to make life more affordable for seniors. We hope the partisanship of today's Conservative Party in the Senate will not be an obstacle to helping Canadians retire with financial security.
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- Apr/26/23 7:07:37 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am grateful to be here today to ask the member some follow-up questions around tax fairness for seniors.
I want to first give a big shout-out to Single Seniors for Tax Fairness for its advocacy and work to bring light and solutions forward around the unfair tax system that negatively impacts single seniors. In my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC Seniors and Pensioners Nanaimo has been serving our community for more than 80 years. This organization provides vital services and social activities for seniors.
I am here to talk a little bit more about, and get some more answers around, why we are not implementing the changes necessary to support seniors.
One statistic is that 39% of seniors in Canada are single. Just to clarify, I am defining these seniors as being 65 and older with no partner: single, widowed or divorced. Of these single seniors I am referring to, women are disproportionately represented, for many reasons. One is that they live longer. Another point that is important is that singles need two-thirds of the income of couples to maintain a similar lifestyle to their coupled counterparts.
I think of Margaret, a constituent in my riding who is widowed. She is living off OAS and CPP. She shared with me that she has all these expenses that just keep adding up. She is asking herself when it will stop. She pays $800 each month for prescription drugs. She asked herself if she will be forced to reduce her prescription medications due to their high cost. Margaret has various health conditions that require monitoring by a health professional but she no longer has a family doctor, so she has nobody to turn to for necessary ongoing health concerns. She shared with me that she is suffering and feels like she has been pushed to the side and is not getting any help.
Currently what we see in place is that coupled seniors are experiencing tax advantages, rightfully so. They are able to make the most of their money, through income splitting of pension income, for example, which reduces the amount of taxes that each partner pays, and makes them both often eligible for full OAS payments with no clawbacks. They are able to transfer between portfolios like RRSPs, RRIFs and TFSAs.
Single seniors, on the other hand, are not able to take advantage of these same tax rules. For example, they are not able to split their full pension income. They pay full taxes on pensions, which increases the probability of OAS clawbacks. Ultimately, they are receiving less income. There are multiple ways in which single seniors, just because of their relationship status, are being placed in a position of further disadvantage.
Seniors have contributed to our communities in endless ways. At this time in their lives, more than ever, they should not have to worry about having the funds to make ends meet or about their loved ones not having access to the funds intended for them when they pass.
The question I asked the Prime Minister when he was here earlier was why single seniors are not receiving the same tax advantages as their coupled counterparts. Why is the Liberal government not making the necessary changes to ensure that seniors are not disadvantaged based solely on their relationship status?
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- Apr/26/23 7:11:38 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there are a lot of wonderful members of Parliament in the House of Commons, and I can tell colleagues that this member is one of them. I am perfectly willing to continue this conversation about seniors at any time with this member and other members.
I agree wholeheartedly with this member that this is a very important issue. After a lifetime of hard work, seniors deserve a secure retirement. They should not need to be worried about making ends meet.
That is why our government is continuing to step up to put more money into the pockets of seniors, including older women, when they need it most. We recognize that, although global inflation rates are declining, Canadians, including seniors, are facing affordability challenges, particularly when it comes to filling their grocery cart.
That is why, in budget 2023, we created the one-time grocery rebate, providing $2.5 billion in targeted inflation relief to the Canadians who need it the most. This means that 11 million low- and modest-income Canadians and families, including seniors, will benefit from extra money to pay for groceries, transportation, rent and other daily expenses.
I am also happy to say that budget 2023 proposes $13 billion over five years, $4.4 billion ongoing, to implement the Canadian dental care plan. This plan will help up to nine million uninsured Canadians, including seniors, access dental care.
On top of these new measures, budget 2023 also touches on our previous measures for old age security and the guaranteed income supplement, which both provide an important stable income for seniors.
Also, allow me to remind members about the programs and recent increases. The OAS program is considered the first pillar of Canada's retirement income system. Benefits under the OAS program include, among others, the basic OAS pension and the GIS for low-income seniors. There are also special allowances for low-income seniors aged 60 to 64, who are the spouses or common-law partners of GIS recipients or who are widowed.
Last summer, our government increased the OAS pension by 10% for seniors over the age of 75, more than half of whom are women, putting over $800 more in the pockets of seniors in just the first year. We also increased the GIS by 10% for nearly a million low-income single seniors. These measures are just a few in a basket of supports that the Government of Canada has provided for seniors.
We also reversed the former government's reckless decision to raise the age of eligibility from 65 to 67 for GIS and OAS, something that would have come into effect this very month without our government's intervention.
We provided tangible assistance in the form of program changes, tax breaks and top-ups. We reduced income taxes through increases to the basic personal amount and, for working Canadians, we enhanced the Canada pension plan, which is considered to be the second pillar of Canada's retirement income system. I want to emphasize that CPP offers a number of provisions, like CPP's child-rearing provisions, to support people who had a lower labour force attachment, especially women who took time off to care for their families.
Our plan is working. In fact, since 2015, we have lifted hundreds of thousands of seniors out of poverty, leading to poverty rates among seniors that are the lowest in our history and among the lowest in the world. All of these measures show that the financial well-being of seniors, including older women, is a priority for the Government of Canada.
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- Apr/26/23 7:15:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there are many seniors who are reaching out to me who are struggling to make ends meet. I want to mention two seniors in particular.
Robin is a single senior in my riding living on a fixed income. She currently pays 75% of her income on housing. This is way too much for her to be paying.
Mary, another constituent in my riding, who is widowed and living off of a fixed income, is experiencing health conditions. She has diabetes and renal failure, to be specific, and has been recommended a special diet to minimize the impacts of these health conditions, but she cannot afford to purchase the foods that are being recommended to her by the dieticians so she can live her healthiest, happiest life.
There are some real solutions being put forward by Single Seniors for Tax Fairness, which I believe are tangible and clear ways that the government can move forward to help seniors. One example is to give seniors, upon their death, the right to transfer their—
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- Apr/26/23 7:16:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would be pleased to offer the opportunity to chat in a sidebar with that member at any time on any type of advocacy for seniors in Canada.
The Government of Canada continues to do more to support seniors, including older women. Please allow me to provide members, once again, with a snapshot of what a 76-year-old woman in British Columbia, with a maximum GIS entitlement, could now receive. She could be eligible for more than $2,000 in additional support in 2023, thanks to the grocery rebate, the GIS top-up, the increase for single seniors introduced in 2016 and the new increase to the OAS pension for seniors over 75. That could be an extra $2,000 in her pocket this year.
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