Hon. Percy Downe: Colleagues, as you may be aware, the Government of the United Kingdom is not indexing the U.K. State Pension for over 120,000 residents of Canada, notwithstanding the fact that they do index the U.K. State Pension for a host of other countries, including the United States, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Norway, Poland, Denmark and so on; however, for pensioners living in Canada, this is not the case.

The U.K. government policy stands in sharp contrast to Canada where pension payments are always indexed, regardless of where in the world the recipient lives. Not only is this unfair to those who face pensions of steadily declining value as a result of inflation, it also represents an estimated $450 million not entering the Canadian economy, along with all of the benefits that would bring. I have correspondence dating back to a dozen years from the Government of Canada, outlining their efforts to have the U.K. correct this problem. To date, the U.K. government has refused to change its policy.

I urge my Senate colleagues to join in supporting our fellow Canadian residents, as well as to add $450 million to the Canadian economy, by asking the U.K. government to fix this problem.

[Translation]

Senator Downe: When recipients of the U.K. State Pension retire in Canada, their incomes will be lower than those retiring in other countries, such as the United States, because their pensions are not indexed. If they happen to fall into poverty, the cost of supporting them will be borne by Canadian governments and Canadian taxpayers, whereas if the United Kingdom had treated them fairly, they might have been able to get by on their own.

Given the close historical relations between Canada and the United Kingdom, the recipients of the U.K. State Pension are wondering why if they lived in Iceland, Portugal, Germany, Turkey, Israel or the Philippines, their pensions would be indexed, but not here in Canada.

I’m wondering, Senator Gold, if you could urge the Government of Canada to increase the diplomatic efforts to fix this problem.

Hon. Percy E. Downe: Senator Gold, more than 120,000 people living in Canada receive a U.K. State Pension. These pensions are indexed to inflation for pensioners in the U.K. as well as those living in many other countries, including the United States. However, for pensioners living in Canada, this is not the case.

The U.K. government policy stands in sharp contrast to Canada, where pension payments are always indexed, regardless of where in the world the recipient lives. Not only is this unfair to those who face pensions of steadily declining value as a result of inflation, but it represents an estimated $450 million not entering the Canadian economy, with all the benefits that would bring.

I’m interested in finding out whether there’s currently any effort on the part of the Government of Canada to fix this long-standing problem.

Hon. Percy E. Downe: Senator Gold, more than 120,000 people living in Canada receive a U.K. State Pension. These pensions are indexed to inflation for pensioners in the U.K. as well as those living in many other countries, including the United States. However, for pensioners living in Canada, this is not the case.

The U.K. government policy stands in sharp contrast to Canada, where pension payments are always indexed, regardless of where in the world the recipient lives. Not only is this unfair to those who face pensions of steadily declining value as a result of inflation, but it represents an estimated $450 million not entering the Canadian economy, with all the benefits that would bring.

I’m interested in finding out whether there’s currently any effort on the part of the Government of Canada to fix this long‑standing problem.