SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Member of Parliament

Rachel Blaney

  • Member of Parliament
  • NDP
  • North Island—Powell River
  • British Columbia
  • Voting Attendance: 65%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $145,542.18

  • Government Page
Context: House Hansard - 304 - Apr/29/24
Ms. Rachel Blaney (North Island—Powell River, NDP)
  • Apr/29/24 5:31:04 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the work I do with the member on the veterans committee, so my question is going to be around that issue. We have done a report in this place around marriage after 60. We know that many veterans who find love after 60 cannot leave a pension for their survivors. We also know that in 2019, the government made an announcement saying there was $150 million it would be sharing with women who were already in that circumstance. There are many very impoverished women who looked after veterans during the hardest parts of their lives and got absolutely nothing upon their passing. I was saddened to see there was no mention of that in this budget. When is the money from 2019 actually going out to these vulnerable women?
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Context: House Hansard - 67 - May/9/22
Ms. Rachel Blaney (North Island—Powell River, NDP)
  • May/9/22 4:23:16 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-19 
Madam Speaker, one of the issues that is very concerning to me, and that was not addressed in this budget at all, is marriage after 60. We know that if veterans, military folks, RCMP and our federal civil servants get married after 60, their partners get no survivor benefits after those members pass. Right now, we are working with an amazing human being who put away $153,000 out of his own pension to look after his partner when he passed. Now, she is very ill, and it does not look like she is going to make it. I think it is very concerning that the $153,000 is not going to be returned to that person. Could the member speak about how important it is to recognize the people who served us so well, and their partners?
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Context: House Hansard - 57 - Apr/25/22
Ms. Rachel Blaney (North Island—Powell River, NDP)
Mr. Speaker, the second petition I am tabling today is one in support of my bill, Bill C-221, which talks about removing the gold digger clause. Many people across Canada do not understand that the spouses of veterans, including common-law partners, who married after the age of 60 are not entitled to the automatic survivor pension under the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act. It also means that veterans, RCMP veterans and, in fact, all federal public servants, if they marry after 60, do not receive any pension for their loved one when they pass on. Bill C-221 lays out the ways to eliminate this clause and move forward, and at any point the government could implement this fully. When one has talked to the people who I have talked to, one knows that this needs to be done, especially when there are those with over 25 years of marriage.
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