Senator Cordy: Thank you. The House of Commons is somewhat tied up with establishing the parliamentary oversight committee, so I’m not sure they’re going to drop that to look at this bill. And the House of Commons does not hold votes on Fridays. Looking at the week ahead, this is Wednesday, so there is not much time. I personally would not take the risk that seniors would not receive their money.

Senator Cordy: I can sense the frustration in your voice, and we all feel those same frustrations. This is a technical amendment. This is from the statutes of the budget implementation bill, and the section referred to is section 275.

This had initially been section 276 but, because a section was deleted from the bill in the other place, it became section 275. So then when we referred to section 276 in the budget implementation bill, unfortunately the number was incorrect. But the intent was there.

I understand your frustration, but this is simply a numerical error, and I know it’s an error. But it’s a numerical error and we should not let the benefits to seniors be held up. Thank you.

Hon. Jane Cordy: Honourable senators, I listened to the comments by Senator Patterson, and I want to thank him and Senator Griffin for their contribution to the study of Bill C-12 at committee. It is important for us to have these types of discussions.

Senators Patterson, Griffin and Quinn have clearly and concisely expressed their concerns regarding the numbering error contained in the 2021 Budget Implementation Act.

We saw this same amendment proposed at committee where it was defeated by committee members.

Honourable senators, during testimony the minister and departmental officials acknowledged the numbering error. In fact, all honourable senators now know there was a drafting error in the 2021 Budget Implementation Act as a result of an amendment in the other place, as explained in Senator Griffin’s second reading speech. A section incorrectly references section 276 rather than section 275.

The Minister of Seniors gave assurances to committee members that she will work to ensure this numbering error is corrected, while stressing the importance of meeting the March 4 deadline for passing Bill C-12.

Colleagues, I know that if we miss the March 4 deadline there are risks to the timely processing of benefits for tens of thousands of our most vulnerable citizens.

Seniors who receive GIS benefits and work part-time, minimum-wage jobs are some of our most vulnerable citizens. We all agree the drafting error should be corrected, but the committee also heard from Finance officials and department of seniors officials that this numbering error will not have an impact on the delivery of benefits for seniors.

Honourable senators, the real risk for vulnerable seniors is great if we don’t pass this bill on time.

When asked at committee by Senator Kutcher:

What do you think would be the response of Canadian seniors if this didn’t go through in a timely way on the basis of what they may perceive as an arcane technicality? What would be the response and what would happen to people?

Devorah Kobluk, Senior Policy Analyst of the Income Security Advocacy Centre, had this to say:

I think the real question is, do we want more seniors in this predicament? The answer I would hope is no.

Leila Sarangi, National Director, Campaign 2000, said:

. . . I think the kind of harm on top of what they’ve already experienced would be very devastating for the seniors who we’re talking about.

Honourable senators, I appreciate the senator’s attention to detail, but let’s not put seniors’ benefits at risk. As I said at committee, let us not allow perfection to get in the way of making things better. This numbering error will not affect the delivery of benefits to seniors. We do know, however, that there is a real risk that an amendment could delay GIS payments.

Low income, vulnerable seniors who are still working deserve to not have to worry about receiving their Guaranteed Income Supplement in July.

I will repeat what I said in committee when I called on committee members to not take out our frustrations on the government or government officials, because the real negative impact of an amendment would be to our most vulnerable seniors — those who are collecting the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

As I did at committee, I will tell you that I will not be supporting this amendment.

Thank you.

Senator Cordy: Yes.