Discussion · Government Orders
Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Québécois
“More seniors are living in poverty because their pensions do not keep up with rising prices. The government increased pensions only for people aged 75 and older, which is unfair to those aged 65 to 74. I want to know if the member supports our bill to give that same pension increase to all seniors.”
“Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my colleague on her speech. I would like to know what the government intends to do to support seniors’ purchasing power. Seniors are facing challenges when it comes to affordability. Since the 2000s, the poverty rate among seniors has been rising, mainly because they live on a fixed income that is not sufficiently indexed to inflation. That is particularly true for old age security benefits. The Trudeau government increased the OAS for seniors aged 75 and up, but it failed to do the same for seniors between the ages of 65 and 74, and this created two classes of seniors. One of my Bloc Québécois colleagues has introduced a bill seeking to index and increase the OAS for younger retirees between the ages of 65 and 74. What does my colleague think about that?”
Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my colleague on her speech. I would like to know what the government intends to do to support seniors’ purchasing power. Seniors are facing challenges when it comes to affordability. Since the 2000s, the poverty rate among seniors has been rising, mainly because they live on a fixed income that is not sufficiently indexed to inflation. That is particularly true for old age security benefits. The Trudeau government increased the OAS for seniors aged 75 and up, but it failed to do the same for seniors between the ages of 65 and 74, and this created two classes of seniors. One of my Bloc Québécois colleagues has introduced a bill seeking to index and increase the OAS for younger retirees between the ages of 65 and 74. What does my colleague think about that?