44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 4, 2022 10:00AM
Madam Speaker, the member for Montcalm talked about seniors, and I was very touched to hear that. I also read an article just yesterday on how inflation was having a huge impact on the lives of retired seniors. The article basically talked about how they would have to come back to the workforce, because they realized their pensions were not enough. Inflation had driven up costs and the high costs of taxes are driving them out of retirement.
I am interested to hear what the member has to say about those aspects and the reality of the carbon tax, not to mention the GST that is on top of that carbon tax. These huge costs are impacting seniors.
Could the member expand on how these will have huge impacts not only on seniors in Quebec but across the whole country?
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. Even before this inflationary crisis, in 2015, 2016 and 2017, seniors in my riding were telling me that it was possible to combat isolation and the undermining of their social independence. However, ageism is currently running rampant in our society.
Seniors have experience that can be transferred to other types of jobs. They would like to get up in the morning and tell themselves that they will contribute to society, albeit at their own pace. They would like to be sure that when they do go to work, the government is not going to claw it all back, as if they were volunteering and were again putting more money into government coffers.
By working, seniors are making a little extra money for themselves. People do not save at this age. They put their money back into the economy. They are less isolated, share their abilities and skills with society, can afford a few small luxuries, and are less sick and less stressed. From an economic and human perspective, it is a good solution. It is not for everyone, but we should encourage those who want to do it.
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Mr. Speaker, it is sad that there are people out there doing this. Those folks should be held to account. That is why I am proud to be part of the law and order party. I do appreciate the member calling that out.
Being the former shadow minister for national revenue, I unfortunately became familiar with the many scammers out there. The CRA will not ask for anyone's social insurance number or bank information through email. When in doubt, pick up the phone, call the CRA and confirm it before providing any type of information. People can talk to those they trust. They can call their MP's office and we will be happy to help sort it out. I have seen way too many seniors and others taken advantage of this way.
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- Oct/4/22 2:57:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have a real question and I expect a real answer.
In a recent poll, over 80% of Canadians said they are cutting back on spending because of the high cost of living. Over half said they cannot keep up with the prices they are paying. Because of the Liberal mismanagement of our economy, people are hanging on by a financial thread. Our seniors are worried they will not be able to survive.
Will the Liberal government do the right thing and cancel its plan to triple taxes on gas, groceries and home heating?
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- Oct/4/22 2:58:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we will not take any lessons from the party opposite, whose plan for seniors was to raise the age of retirement to 67.
We know Canadians are struggling, and that is precisely why we are doubling the GST credit. That means seniors would receive an extra $233 in their pockets. We also increased old age security for seniors. That is $800 more for a full pension. On this side of the House, we will continue to have the backs of Canadians and seniors.
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- Oct/4/22 4:08:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I hear that from the Liberals all the time. They like to put out all sorts of numbers, and they put them out so much that people who are watching can hear all these big numbers, like the $1,000 they are going to get back, when in reality it is a much smaller number. They inflate that number, just like they inflate inflation and just like they inflate the taxes that are on these people. Unfortunately, taxes are going up and prices are going up. Seniors, I suspect, in the member's riding, after taking retirement, are going to turn around and now say, especially those in my riding, that they are going to have to go back to work because they cannot afford the cost of living anymore because of increased costs.
It is one thing to help out, and it is nice to see that, but the bottom line is that ending the taxes will help these people much faster.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I will give him the opportunity to clarify a little the remarks made by the Conservative Party in recent weeks. They seem to be confusing a tax with a contribution.
When people contribute to EI, they are putting money aside for the day when they will need it because they have lost their jobs. When people contribute to the Canada pension plan, they are putting money aside for their golden years so they can have it when they retire. These are not taxes, they are contributions. These are investments, an insurance in the event of unemployment and a means to live with dignity upon retirement.
Does my colleague not want seniors in his riding to put money aside and have a good retirement?
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Madam Speaker, I would like to ask my energetic colleague what she thinks about this. The Bloc Québécois proposes to do two things to control the cost of living. First, to help seniors in particular, we want to see no reductions in the guaranteed income supplement for those who received the Canada emergency response benefit or the Canada recovery benefit during the pandemic.
Next, the Bloc Québécois would like to increase old age security to preserve seniors' purchasing power.
What does my colleague think about these two proposals?
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Madam Speaker, I think the Bloc Québécois and we Conservatives care about seniors. It is very clear that the government does not care about seniors.
I think the member has some good ideas, and I am sure we can talk more about how we can work together for seniors, because it is abundantly clear that the government has not done anything for them.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Davenport for her speech on this bill, which seeks to help people.
The government likes to boast about things like helping seniors. I will come back to this, because I was talking about it just this morning with a food bank representative who reminded me how difficult the situation is for seniors. Do we really want to force seniors to line up at food banks?
This bill is only partially helpful at this point. The government boasts about providing help, but it is only helping seniors aged 75 and over. This means that half of seniors are being left behind by this government. Those aged 65 to 74 are being forced to line up at food banks. Is that fair?
This is just the tip of the iceberg, since we know that many seniors are too proud to ask for help. They are at home and suffering. What does the government have to offer people aged 65 to 74?
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question and I truly believe that her concern is genuine.
We very much care about seniors. I believe the doubling of the GST credit will continue to support many seniors. I think if we manage to pass Bill C-31 it will also support seniors through the Canada housing benefit one-time top-up. I think that will be very beneficial for them.
The seniors in my riding of Davenport have already told me that they are excited about a national dental care plan. They know it will not go into effect for them until the end of next year, but they are already excited and very much looking forward to its implementation.
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Madam Speaker, the government, over the last number of years, has been working in different communities and has done a great deal to support people from all different spectrums. We can talk about the hundreds of thousands of children lifted out of poverty and the hundreds of thousands of seniors lifted out of poverty by this government. We can talk about one-time payments during the pandemic for people with disabilities and, again, for our seniors.
I do not know if the member is being accurate in his portrayal that this government is not sensitive to the individuals who are in need. In our policy, whether that is legislation from the Minister of Disability Inclusion or other financial matters such as budgets, we have been there. I wonder if the member might want to reflect on some of the commitments that have actually materialized.
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Madam Speaker, I will reflect on it. While I am doing that, I ask the hon. member to reflect on the fact that we have a system right now where we have people living in deep, legislated poverty, people living with disabilities and seniors living in absolute squalor conditions in long-term care facilities who are actually contemplating medical assistance in dying because the government refused to provide, without delay, supports to people with disabilities. It refused our motion to provide a guaranteed basic livable income to people living with disabilities and to seniors. That is what it should be reflecting on, and it is to this country's shame.
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Mr. Speaker, it is good to see that the government is moving forward with certain measures, including the GST credit. We know that when the Liberals send out a cheque, it is usually because an election is on the horizon. I hope that is not the case here.
My colleague talked about increasing old age security by 10% for people aged 75 and over. The Bloc Québécois has long been a voice for Quebec seniors, who are saying that they do not want two classes of seniors and that they want this benefit to be similarly increased for people aged 65 to 74.
I have the following question for my colleague. When it comes to the rising cost of living, what is the difference between someone who is 74 and someone who is 75? Why would the Liberals deprive a 74-year-old of the old age security increase?
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Madam Speaker, I am really enjoying the discussion today.
The Bank of Canada has a target of 2% inflation that it is trying to bring us back to. As the member mentioned, in June inflation was growing, in July it peaked at 8.1%, and now it is coming back down to 7% because the Bank of Canada has introduced higher interest rates. The higher interest rates are impacting the more vulnerable people in Canada, so there is a combination there of trying to cool the housing market and trying to slow down the inflation caused by the out-of-control housing market. As the member says, the impact on seniors is something that we need to be addressing.
Could the member talk about how this is a targeted approach with a time limit so that, when inflation comes back toward 2%, we do not have something that is going to fuel inflation going forward?
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