Dear Editor As we know, the government of Canada has increased the Universal Child Care Benefit to families for each child under six from $100 to $160 each month (a 60 per cent increase) and has introduced a new $60 per month benefit to each child six through 17, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2015, and payable irrespective of family income.
Meanwhile, Canada’s poorest seniors, those subsisting on Old Age Security and GIS, are receiving no increase in 2015, even with inflation presently at 2.3 per cent. The poorest single senior currently receives $1,330.80 per month on OAS and GIS, or a total of $15,969.60 yearly. In 2009, the low-income cutoff, also known as the poverty line for after-tax income for one person was $18,421 yearly (and with inflation would be at least $20,000 in 2015). In 2011, the government of Canada estimated that there were 680,000 low-income seniors, i.e. those collecting OAS and GIS.
Now, with an estimated seven million children between the ages of zero and 17, the new $60 per month increase in child benefits for 2015 will amount to just over $5 billion.
A federal election has just been called, but no party — not the Conservatives, NDP or Liberals — seems to care about senior citizens, particularly about Canada’s most impoverished seniors. In a country as rich as Canada, this amounts to a national disgrace.
In the interests of fairness and equality, at the very least, it is my belief that Canada’s poorest, most vulnerable senior citizens should be entitled to a $60 per month increase in their GIS payments for 2015, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2015, as with the children of Canada. This increase would amount to approximately $490 million, or slightly less than 10 per cent of what is being given to families with children.
Days before the election call, the Conservative government committed $582 million for a ring road in Calgary, on top of over $1 billion promised for transit extensions in Calgary. Absolutely nothing, zero, for poor seniors. Should a ring road in Calgary be a more important priority over the welfare of 680,000 low-income seniors across Canada?
It appears that Pope Francis was much too accurate when he recently stated of the elderly, “having become older and less useful, are marginalized to the point of abandonment.”
Which of our federal leaders, Stephen Harper, Tom Mulcair, and Justin Trudeau, will take the challenge and stand up for Canada’s seniors, especially the poorest and most vulnerable?
We need a specific, concrete commitment before we go to cast our ballots in this federal election.
Bob Jacobs, New Westminster
