- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- NDP
- Courtenay—Alberni
- British Columbia
- Voting Attendance: 66%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $148,159.67
- Government Page
- Jun/21/23 9:25:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member talked about getting help to people, but what has the government done? When it comes to seniors, the government increased the OAS by 10%, but only for those who are over 75. It created two tiers of seniors. The Liberals decided to neglect those seniors who are between 65 and 75. This is despite the fact that over a third of women over 65 are living in poverty. That is actually shameful in a country like this. The PBO costed out expanding it to include those seniors who are between 65 and 75, and it would cost $1.4 billion. Guess how much that is. It is a half-point increase in corporate tax.
What did the Liberals decide to do? They decided to choose corporate welfare instead of taking care of seniors, leaving the third of women who are over 65 hung out to dry. The GST rebate that people are going to see in July is to help just with inflation and groceries, never mind this increase that is needed. When will the government decide to increase corporate taxes to take care of those who need help the most, including seniors over 65, women and single women, one-third of whom are living in poverty in this country? It is unacceptable, and it is an injustice.
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Mr. Speaker, it is great to see the Bloc come on board with doubling the GST, which would provide help to people right now.
What I am really concerned about, in the discussion around people who need help, are workers and ensuring seniors get the help they need. I have heard the member speak in support of getting seniors the help they need. Most seniors do not have enough money saved and they rely on CPP. We are hearing Conservatives fighting against increases to the CPP, calling it a payroll tax, when in fact it is ensuring that people who are retiring have retirement security. It is deferred wages.
Would my hon. colleague agree that it is important to increase the CPP, and that it is not a payroll tax?
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Mr. Speaker, a constituent of mine, Ted, is a senior. He lost his teeth. He cannot get dental care coverage. I raised this in the House and someone from the member's party suggested that Ted should go back to work. He is 77. He should not have to go back to work to get his teeth fixed, and he should not have to eat soup all the time.
The member talked about payroll taxes. CPP is not a tax. It is retirement income; it is deferred wages. It is critical. We are hearing from seniors who have not saved. They need help with dental care. They need to make sure they can retire with more income.
Conservative premiers, and premiers right across this country, worked out a deal with the government to increase CPP, and that is for both workers' contributions and those of their employers, so that seniors can have enough money to get the things they need.
Does my colleague not agree that investments in CPP are deferred wages and are meant for retirement income? They are not payroll taxes.
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Madam Speaker, it seems there is commonality in that not just veterans, but seniors are being targeted, and there needs to be more work. The gold-digger clause absolutely needs to be revoked. It is discriminatory to Canada's veterans, the people who put their lives on the line so that we have a fair and free society. We are indebted to them, and we owe them the benefits that every Canadian deserves. This is an unfair penalty on the very people we should be supporting the most.
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- Mar/31/22 3:53:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, here we are listening to Liberals, and today Conservatives actually want to go after seniors' retirement income. Together, they helped reduce corporate taxes from 28% to 15%. Meanwhile, people cannot even afford a place to live. We have seen how these tax breaks have worked out. I appreciate being heckled by the—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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Mr. Speaker, first, the member for Elgin—Middlesex—London talked about her parents watching, and she must be very proud. They have a wonderful daughter, and I always appreciate her interventions.
However, I have an issue the member's party when it comes to seniors. Conservative members voted against really important NDP proposals, such as pharmacare to help seniors make sure they get access to medicine, dental care for those who cannot afford it and a guaranteed annual livable income so that no senior is living in poverty. They even voted against taxing CEOs and closing tax loopholes or tax havens for the super-wealthy, measures that would pay for those programs.
Eleanor Joy, from Parksville, is telling me that the clawback has made it impossible for her to be able to buy food plus pay for medicine plus pay her rent. I ask the member if she would agree that the government should be paying for the pandemic recovery off the backs of billionaires and not off the poorest of Canadians, especially our seniors.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague talked passionately about the need to support seniors. Clearly this is an urgent situation. These are the most vulnerable seniors in our country that the government has gone after with clawbacks. I really want to thank the member for North Island—Powell River for the important work she did on pressuring the government to respond to this situation.
Does my colleague agree that the government is paying for the pandemic off the backs of poor Canadians by going after seniors in this circumstance? Does she agree that instead it should be going after the billionaires and the big corporations that have profited from the pandemic?
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Madam Speaker, I want to go back to my colleague for the question about a guaranteed annual livable income. He did not answer it. We know that seniors are living in poverty, and I want to know if the Conservatives support ensuring that no seniors are living below the poverty line. A guaranteed livable income would ensure that will not happen. We are all disappointed about the Liberals dropping the ball on this clawback and why we are having this debate today, but I want to hear about long-term solutions and I want to hear if my colleague supports them.
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Madam Speaker, I first want to thank my colleague whom I have a great respect for. However, my concern is the lack of urgency from the Conservative bench. These are the lowest-income seniors in our country who have had their GIS clawed back. They cannot afford their rent, food or medicine. Some of them are cutting their pills in half. That is unacceptable. Today, we are talking about an urgent situation so that those people who have been cut off get help now.
Does my colleague support our call for a guaranteed livable income so that no seniors in this country are living in poverty and have to go through a situation like this ever again?
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Madam Speaker, the sense of urgency is so real. These are the lowest-income seniors in our country who have had clawbacks because of the failure of the Liberal government.
As the New Democrats, we are here to get help for seniors now. I want to give a shout-out to my colleague, the MP for North Island—Powell River, for being vigilant and pressing the government to fix this problem. We are here to help Canadians and seniors right now. We have been fighting this fight since the get-go. We want some certainty from the government and the minister that they are going to roll out immediate supports for those who need help now, in March, which is just weeks away, so that in April, all of the clawbacks will be repaid to the seniors who are struggling right now.
Will the minister listen to the New Democrats, who are calling for a guaranteed livable basic income, brought forward by my colleague from Winnipeg Centre, so that no seniors are living in poverty? I hope the minister will really listen to the New Democrats' proposal to do that because we should all agree in the House that no senior and no person living with a disability should be living below the poverty line. They need a guaranteed livable annual income.
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