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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 5

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 26, 2021 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 5 - Nov/26/21
Ms. Andréanne Larouche (Shefford, BQ)
  • Nov/26/21 11:15:48 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, seniors are among those hardest hit by the pandemic. It bears repeating that their financial situation was precarious even before the COVID-19 crisis. Even so, there was nothing for them in the throne speech. They were forgotten. Not a word was said about those bearing the brunt of inflation and rising prices across the board. To add insult to injury, seniors who stopped working because of the pandemic and received CERB are now having their guaranteed income supplement clawed back. That puts a considerable dent in their budget and pushes them into poverty. This situation needs to be fixed. More than ever before, our poorest seniors are having to make difficult choices: pay for food, pay for medicine or pay for housing. It is high time the government showed those who built Quebec and Canada a little consideration by increasing old age security by $110 per month as of age 65. The government needs to reverse its senseless, unfair decision to create two classes of seniors. Let us see some action.
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Context: House Hansard - 5 - Nov/26/21
Ms. Andréanne Larouche (Shefford, BQ)
  • Nov/26/21 12:54:01 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-2 
Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague from Terrebonne on her speech. I want to talk more about two segments of the population that were mentioned. My colleague raised the issue of women. As critic for status of women, I am a member of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, which had an emergency meeting in the summer of 2020 to look at how the pandemic was disproportionately affecting women. We cannot deny that some sectors will be further affected, and the bill addresses those sectors. Culture and tourism employ many women, and they will need to be supported to get through this crisis. I wonder if my colleague could expand on the issue of seniors, particularly the message that the government sent when it cut the guaranteed income supplement for seniors who were working and support for those who collected the CERB. It is important to support seniors, because there are people over 65 who want to work, who want to contribute to the economy and help with the labour shortage problem. At this point, however, they are being penalized. I would like to hear more from my colleague on the subject of both seniors and women.
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