- Member of Parliament
- Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities
- Liberal
- Brampton West
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 67%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $116,798.39
- Government Page
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for London West for her advocacy for seniors in her riding.
The member is right. We committed to ensuring seniors' eligibility for the GIS and allowances would not be impacted by receiving pandemic benefits. The House yesterday unanimously passed Bill C-12. I want to take this opportunity to thank every member in the House for making that happen. I look forward to seeing it make its way through the other place. It is clear for seniors with the greatest needs that we will always have their backs.
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moved:
That, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House, Bill C-12, An Act to amend the Old Age Security Act (Guaranteed Income Supplement), be disposed of as follows:
(a) the bill be ordered for consideration at the second reading stage immediately after the adoption of this order;
(b) when the House begins debate at the second reading stage of the bill, two members of each recognized party and a member of the Green Party may each speak at the said stage for not more than 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes for questions and comments, provided that members may be permitted to split their time with another member;
(c) at the conclusion of the time provided for the debate at the second reading stage or when no member rises to speak, whichever is earlier, all questions necessary to dispose of the second reading stage of the bill shall be put without further debate or amendment, provided that, if a recorded division is requested, it shall not be deferred;
(d) if the bill is adopted at the second reading stage, it shall be deemed referred to a committee of the whole, deemed considered in committee of the whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at report stage, and deemed read a third time and passed;
(e) during consideration of the bill, the House shall not adjourn, except pursuant to a motion moved by a minister of the Crown;
(f) no motion to adjourn the debate may be moved except by a minister of the Crown; and
(g) upon completion of proceedings on the said bill, the House shall adjourn to the next sitting day.
She said: Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak virtually in the House from my constituency of Brampton West, which is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinabe, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee, Ojibwa and Chippewa people, and the land that is home to the Métis and is the territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit.
I will be sharing my time with my colleague, friend and excellent Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Seniors.
It is my pleasure to speak to the House today to discuss Bill C-12, an Act to amend the Old Age Security Act (Guaranteed Income Supplement), and why we should move quickly to adopt it.
The motion to expedite this matter reflects both the urgent nature of this bill to support the most in-need Canadians and the ongoing collaboration and agreement between parties on this, as well as the simplicity of the policy content.
On the day I was appointed minister, I began discussing this issue, recognizing there were low-income, working seniors who were having trouble making ends meet and that the pandemic benefits they received should not have been a penalty against them, especially not in the subsequent year as the system was set up.
Nothing about this pandemic has been normal, and I would argue that therefore neither should this be. They received CERB and CRB in 2020, but they spent it on things they needed at the time. It helped them to pay for their rent or the groceries or medicine they needed at the time.
I recognize that we cannot go back in time to exempt that income and that, at the time, we were 100% focused on moving quickly to set up benefits and save Canadians' livelihoods. We did that.
This bill would do one thing. It would exempt pandemic relief benefits from the calculation of guaranteed income supplement or allowance benefits beginning in July, 2022.
It is a very short bill. I could quickly read it out, and still have plenty of time in this speech. In fact, the bill is the product of much collaboration among parliamentarians and parties already. I want to take an opportunity to give credit to all the members who represented their constituents by raising the stories of seniors affected, both here in the House and with me directly through my office.
Further, I would like to also thank the stakeholders and the affected seniors themselves for raising this very important issue.
We all understand that this is an extraordinary situation. Working, low-income seniors deserve to be given a break from worrying if the pandemic benefit income they received will impact the low-income supplement they receive.
As mentioned, the Canada Emergency Response Benefit was put in place very quickly in 2020 to help people avoid catastrophic income loss during COVID. An unprecedented pandemic required an unprecedented response.
The CERB and the Canada Recovery Benefit did just that. They allowed Canadians who did not know what was next to not have to worry or choose between a roof over their heads or food on the table.
I will speak more about the merits of the bill during the second reading debate, which I hope we can get to quickly. Today, I am here to say that we need to adopt this motion to quickly move through the stages of the bill. I understand the importance of Parliament's time to scrutinize bills and debate ideas; however, this is one that we have all said we agree on. All parties have said they agree with the bill's content and intent. We all have limited time before officials would no longer be able to effectively implement this and ensure the best results for affected seniors.
Further, we have to consider our colleagues in the other chamber, who also have to consider this matter. We ask a lot of them when we send them emergency pieces of legislation, and I believe it is fair to try to give them adequate time as well.
However, it is clear from what has been said in this place that this matter is urgent. It is urgent that we remove the worry seniors have, and prevent this possible reduction of the guaranteed income supplement due to pandemic benefits.
This has been an extremely challenging time to navigate. Seniors, especially low-income ones, need the security and surety to know that the government will not be counting these pandemic benefits as income when it comes to their GIS calculations. It is simply not a normal time still.
Every July, entitlement to the GIS or the allowance is reassessed based on an individual's income, or the combined income of a couple as reported on the tax return. However, the CRA and ESDC have a lot of work to do together in the months leading up to July. We need to give them the time to make major system changes to make this exemption possible.
The Income Tax Act technically defines pandemic relief benefits as taxable income, which has meant that they are also considered as income when determining entitlement to the GIS or allowance benefits. In order to exempt that income, and to prevent lower benefit payments to some guaranteed income supplement and allowance recipients because of the income they received from these pandemic benefits, Parliament has to pass this bill by early March. Every day thereafter causes immense challenges for the system, and will have an impact on seniors' files. We need to move quickly to rectify the situation.
This is the unprecedented aftermath of an unprecedented response to certainly an unprecedented crisis. During my speech at second reading, I will further discuss our government's one-time payment that would help seniors affected by 2020 benefits as announced in the economic fiscal update. I recognize—
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Mr. Speaker, our government's priority from the very beginning has been to be there to support those most vulnerable seniors. That is why we worked so hard to strengthen income security for seniors, including with the increase to their GIS.
We moved very quickly to help seniors during the pandemic. We have also introduced, as my hon. colleague knows, Bill C-12, to exclude pandemic benefits for the purposes of calculating GIS going forward, while also making a major investment through a one-time payment to those seniors affected. We are on top of this, and we will always be there for seniors.
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Mr. Speaker, we all agree about just how difficult this pandemic has been for seniors, particularly those most vulnerable. That is why we have actually worked extremely hard to strengthen income security for seniors, including with increases to the GIS.
As my hon. colleague knows, we announced in the fiscal update that we would be delivering a one-time payment to those who received benefits in 2020. We also introduced Bill C-12 to exclude pandemic benefits for the purposes of calculating GIS going forward. I hope we can count on all members of the House to pass this bill extremely quickly.
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague very well knows, we have been there to support seniors, particularly those vulnerable seniors, during this pandemic. As announced in the economic and fiscal update, we will be delivering a one-time payment to fully compensate those affected in 2020.
This week, we introduced Bill C-12 to exclude any pandemic benefits for the purposes of calculating GIS going forward. I hope that we can all get behind this bill and quickly pass it to prevent any future reduction in GIS for the low-income, vulnerable seniors who took these benefits. I think we can all get behind this.
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- Feb/7/22 3:00:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have had the backs of seniors with the greatest needs since the day we formed government, and we will continue to help those low-income seniors make ends meet.
We recognize that some seniors who took pandemic benefits because they needed them are now facing difficulties. That is exactly why we will be delivering, as soon as possible, a one-time payment to those who received benefits in 2020 and saw a reduction. This automatic, one-time payment will help support affected seniors by compensating them for the full loss of their guaranteed income supplement. We will always be there to support seniors.
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- Feb/7/22 2:59:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we can all agree on just how difficult and challenging this pandemic has been for seniors, particularly those most vulnerable. That is why we worked extremely hard to strengthen income security for seniors, including with increases to their GIS, which has helped over 900,000 low-income seniors. Last summer, we provided direct and immediate support for seniors and, as announced in the fiscal update, we will be delivering, as soon as possible, a one-time payment to those who received pandemic benefits in 2020 and saw a reduction. We have been there for seniors, and we will continue to have their backs.
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- Dec/14/21 2:29:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when the pandemic began, our government acted very quickly to help millions of Canadians, including seniors, especially the most vulnerable. We have stepped up to support them with payments and historic investments, on top of the other boosts we delivered for seniors.
When it comes to the CERB and GIS, we know it has been challenging for some seniors this year. However, as I have said before in the House, we are committed to finding the right solution to support those affected. We will have more to share with the House soon. We will always have their backs.
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- Dec/10/21 12:04:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, since the beginning of the pandemic we have told Canadians, particularly seniors, that we would be there for them as long as they needed, and that is exactly what we are doing. We have always prioritized the most vulnerable seniors by strengthening their GIS. We provided immediate and direct support to seniors this summer.
When it comes to the issue the member raised with respect to the CERB and the GIS, we are aware of it and are working to find the best solution for those affected. As always, we will be there for seniors.
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- Dec/10/21 11:39:58 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, strengthening income security for seniors has been a top priority for our government, and that is why our government has strengthened GIS for vulnerable seniors. We provided one-time payments for seniors during the pandemic, so they could afford the things they need. We will be increasing support through OAS for older seniors.
We have an ambitious agenda for seniors. We are going to continue to make sure we have their backs.
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- Dec/10/21 11:29:59 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, we know just how challenging the pandemic has been for seniors. Every single step of the way, our government has been there to support seniors, especially the most vulnerable, by strengthening their GIS. We moved very quickly to provide immediate and direct support to seniors this summer. When it comes to this issue, we are working hard to find the right solution to support those most affected. As always, we will be there for seniors.
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- Dec/7/21 2:52:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since the beginning of the pandemic we told Canadians and seniors we would be there for them as long as they needed, and that is exactly what we are doing. We have always prioritized the most vulnerable seniors by strengthening their GIS. We provided immediate and direct financial support to seniors this summer. When it comes to CERB and GIS, I can assure the hon. member we are working on that issue to find the best solution.
We will be there for seniors.
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- Dec/6/21 2:51:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think we can all agree just how challenging this pandemic has been for our seniors, but every single step of the way, our government has been there to support seniors, especially those most vulnerable, by strengthening their GIS. We moved extremely quickly to provide immediate and direct financial support for seniors.
When it comes to CERB and GIS, we know it has been hard on some seniors this year. I can assure the hon. member that we are working hard to find a solution to ensure that those affected will have the supports they need. We have always been here for seniors. We are going to continue to be there for them.
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- Dec/3/21 11:55:18 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, as I mentioned, we are working to find the right solution to support seniors affected by the GIS and changes due to the pandemic benefits, but let me remind the hon. member of a number of things that we have done to help seniors. We have increased support, through OAS, for those 75 and above. We have strengthened GIS for vulnerable, single seniors. We provided one-time payments during the pandemic to help seniors afford the things that they needed.
We have an ambitious agenda for seniors, and we will always support seniors.
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- Dec/3/21 11:54:08 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, from the very beginning our government's priority has been to support seniors, especially those most vulnerable. That is why we worked extremely hard to strengthen income security for seniors, including their GIS.
We created benefits such as CERB to help people at the height of the pandemic. We know it is having an impact on some of our most vulnerable now, and I can assure the hon. member we are actively working on a solution to ensure we fight for those most vulnerable. We are always going to be there to support those most vulnerable seniors.
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- Dec/3/21 11:34:11 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, we all know how challenging this pandemic has been on seniors. Every single step of the way, this government has been there to support seniors, especially the most vulnerable, by strengthening their GIS. We moved very quickly to provide immediate and direct financial support to seniors.
When it comes to the CERB and GIS, we are aware of the issue. I can assure the hon. member that we are working on this issue to find the right solution to support those affected. As always, we will be there for our seniors.
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- Dec/2/21 3:02:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, strengthening income security for seniors has been a priority for our government, and that is why our government strengthened GIS for vulnerable seniors. We provided one-time payments during the pandemic to help seniors afford the things that they needed. We will be increasing support through OAS for those who are age 75 and above. We recognize that GIS adjustments have been hard on some seniors this year. I can assure the hon. member and all members in this House that we are working hard to find a solution to help those affected. As always, we will be here for them.
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- Dec/2/21 3:01:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think we can all agree just how challenging this pandemic has been on seniors. Every single step of the way, our government has been there to support seniors, especially those who are most vulnerable by strengthening their GIS.
We have also moved very quickly to provide immediate and direct financial supports to seniors this year. When it comes to CERB and GIS, we are aware of this issue. I want to assure the hon. member that we are working extremely hard on this to find the right solution to help those who are affected, and as always, we will be there for them.
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