44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 15, 2022 10:00AM
Mr. Speaker, before I get started, I just wanted to let members know I will be splitting my time with the member for Victoria.
Everyone deserves to be able to live and age with dignity as a valued member of their community, but for more and more Canadians the prospect of retirement is a cause for anxiety. As costs keep rising and wages fail to keep up, people are struggling to save for their retirements during their working years. Seniors across the country were shocked to learn that the benefits they rely on, such as the guaranteed income supplement, had been cut because they received pandemic supports like the CERB.
For months now, the Liberal government has ignored calls to address the intensifying financial crisis for many of Canada's poorest seniors. Over 183,000 seniors across this country were impacted, 610 in my riding of London—Fanshawe. This crisis is a direct result of the government choosing to count emergency pandemic income support in the calculation of eligibility for the guaranteed income supplement. I, along with my New Democrat colleagues, have heard from seniors from across the country who were being evicted just as winter was setting in. This situation, created by the government's own mismanagement, has left many seniors worried they will not be able to afford their rent, food or medications.
I am supporting this motion, because I have heard from so many seniors who are desperately looking for a solution to this problem. Many do not know where to turn now, and they have lost a vital part of their incomes. In the House, I have repeatedly asked for the government to show more compassion for people who find themselves in this desperate circumstance. On December 7, I asked the government to take action. I spoke of Emanuel Benjamin, a 71-year-old senior from my riding, and his GIS benefit that was clawed back by the government because he accessed the CERB in good faith. Before the pandemic, because of the abhorrent way we treat our seniors, Emanuel was living below the poverty line. Now, because of more abhorrent treatment by the government, his income was reduced from $1,500 a month to just $600 a month. Emanuel cannot afford his rent, his food or his medication, and it was only through the generosity of strangers in London, who were able to pool some money, that he could continue to hold on. Emanuel needs a legislative fix for this situation, a situation created by the government, which we must now fix immediately.
Every day I see such selfless acts in London, like the one that helped Emanuel. We are a community that truly stands up for each other, but Emanuel's story is not a unique one, and it certainly is not a happy one. It is the story of a government that is so out of touch with the struggles of Canadians that it ignored the pleas for help for so long that, in some cases, the damage is irreparable. My colleague, the MP for North Island—Powell River, has brought to our attention many stories from seniors in dire need. One example of the personal devastation wrought by the government was of a senior who committed suicide because he could not face the stress of losing his home and living on the street.
There is a restaurant near my constituency office on Dundas Street where the server noted they have a huge rush every morning for breakfast, and it is often the only meal community members, seniors, can afford. That breakfast is $5.99, and it is the only meal they will have that day. A breakfast special at a local restaurant is not an acceptable substitute for a social safety net, a safety net that was already full of massive holes, which were made even larger by consecutive government cuts and clawbacks.
I had one senior reach out to my constituency office, and they wanted me to know how expensive life had become. This constituent buys the same items from the grocery store every week, and she wanted me to know that those same items that she relies on weekly have increased by $8. To many that does not seem like a lot, but to someone who is living on a fixed income, it can mean the world.
Last Parliament, the Liberals voted in favour of a motion that said, “those who have applied in good faith for and received benefits through CERB or other programs to support them through this crisis will not be unjustly penalized”, yet the government did just that. It is penalizing people who can barely make ends meet.
These seniors were not told that accepting emergency benefits would disentitle them to their regular income supports the following year. Among the seniors I have talked to are some who used that bit of extra income to pay bills that were long overdue. They got dental work they had not been able to afford for years, and they had been living in constant pain. They spent the money to restock their pantry, because it was empty and they could not afford to fill it before.
In addition to the sudden reduction in their GIS benefit amount, they are now being denied other services and supports from various levels of government that tie their eligibility to the GIS.
We have also heard from people who believe that these seniors should not have received the CERB benefit or somehow should have known better than to apply for it in the first place. New Democrats disagree. Canada's cash-strapped seniors should not be punished for legitimately receiving emergency pandemic supports. These are elderly Canadians who already live below the poverty level who were working to supplement their meagre incomes. They were eligible for pandemic income support, just like any other working Canadian, and the GIS clawback was cruel, unnecessary and is still having deep impacts on the poorest of seniors.
While we view this bill as a step in the right direction because it capitulates to our demand to fix the GIS problem moving forward, it does not address the urgent need to provide immediate greater financial support to seniors. These seniors cannot continue to wait for the government to figure itself out. New Democrats will work to ensure the government issues the immediate emergency payments to affected seniors to help them bridge the gap until the budgeted one-time payment is released in May of 2022, but we will also fight for permanent supports. That is why I am proud to have seconded my colleague from Winnipeg Centre's private member's bill with respect to the provision of a guaranteed livable income, to ensure they no longer have to live below that poverty line. Too many seniors who have gone hungry, missed or split their medications or faced eviction because they live in poverty need a permanent solution and it is the responsibility of the government to provide that.
I support this motion because we have to fix this problem, but I certainly hope the next time the government receives a warning that its policies will cause serious hardship to Canadian seniors it acts immediately, without months of political pressure to convince it to do the right thing.
In closing, I have a quick message for those seniors in London—Fanshawe. Both I and my amazing team in the constituency office, without whom I could not do the work that I try to do here, are here to help them. We might not be able to get them everything they need, but we will fight as hard as we possibly can to make sure they get as many supports as we can find. In this House, I will continue to make sure their voices are heard. Please know that Canadians will always be able to count on New Democrats to fight for them.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree to support this motion, but unfortunately the problem was created by the government and that I cannot support. On an ongoing basis, in the future, when these issues are brought forward by New Democrats, I would hope it would listen. I know that to react in such an emergency situation is not always easy and we constantly learn from those mistakes. I certainly hope that will be something that the member and his government colleagues will learn from in the future and will craft legislation that would think about everyone who would be impacted with equality and concern.
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Mr. Speaker, I, too, enjoyed working with my hon. colleague along the way. She was an excellent Chair, and very fair. We certainly learned a great deal about how women have had to endure through this pandemic in extraordinary ways.
The delays in these payments have absolutely been so incredibly hard. Specifically, I know of a woman in my riding who was eligible for supports. She was struggling with the government to get those supports. The day after she was evicted from her home and living in her car, we were able to get them for her, but that was too late. So many things are lost at that point. We need a far more reactive government that will listen to the people who need the help that they deserve.
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Mr. Speaker, I absolutely agree with my hon. colleague.
I am not here to make excuses for government mismanagement, for the Liberals' inability to manage their calendar, or for calling an election that certainly stood in the way of seniors receiving the money that they desperately need. If I had a time machine, there are things I would do. Certainly, if New Democrats were in government, things would look very different. I wait for that day and work very hard for it.
By no means do I make any excuses for this government. The Liberals have to live up to their obligations to seniors, especially, and to the people who need their support.
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