I just want to get on the record, once again, our concerns around OAS. Comments that we're going to end up like Greece if we don't make that change are absolutely ridiculous.
Quite frankly, the government can't have it both ways. They can't say the government is running the best financial management of any country in the world—which is not accurate—to claim credit for doing things well, and at the same time say that if this change isn't made, we're going to end up where the country is almost bankrupt. It's simply not the case.
I want to get in on the subject of what this is actually doing. At one point, one of the ministers commented that we're doing this because other countries are doing it. Canada's demographics are not the same as Europe's. Our country is aging, but less rapidly than many other European countries, and our finances are in better shape.
The reality is that this kicks in for people who are age 54 and younger. It means no one who is a senior today is affected, but for people who are 54 and younger, they're going to be affected. By the time this takes effect, it's going to be coming up to the peak of the demographics of the baby boom. After that, the cost of OAS as a percentage of GDP will decline. It's scheduled to go from about 2.43% of GDP in 2012, up to its absolute peak of 3.16% in 2030, and then it falls back to 2.35% in 2060. This is a demographic bulge. It's going to go up and it's going to go down again.
To cut the benefits, not for the baby boomers who are creating that bulge, but for the people who come after them, in my view exacerbates intergenerational inequity. Baby boomers had better access to jobs, to education, and they will have better access to OAS and pensions, but the people who come after them are going to have less of everything. I don't think it's right and I don't think it's necessary.
After asking several questions of the minister and the Prime Minister in the House of Commons, and asking officials, we were not told what the impact of this change would be. Everyone refused to give us numbers. Then, the day after we sit as a finance committee, a Friday afternoon before a long weekend, the numbers came out, and it's $10.8 billion by 2030. In 2030, that's what the number will be.
What does that mean for people who are affected? OAS is just over $6,000 a year, so for a couple, for two years, that's about $25,000 out of their pockets. It's very significant for individuals. Yes, it's an issue we have to address, but this is not the right way to go about it.
This is not something the government campaigned on. We had an election a year ago. The government never mentioned it. It gets announced by the Prime Minister when he's with some of the wealthiest people in the world—an elite gathering in Davos. That's how the people who are going to lose $25,000 found out they're going to be impacted by this.
The people who will be impacted most may have 10 years or more to prepare, but the reality for people at the bottom end of the income scale is that they're not going to be able to prepare because they don't have the wherewithal to put that kind of money aside.
For all these reasons, we think this is wrong. It's the wrong move. It's the wrong measure.
If you're looking for $10 billion, you could maybe look at redrafting the military procurement and not pursuing the F-35s, where you were out $10 billion in your costing, and put that money into the pockets of Canadians when they need it most, in their retirement years.
Thank you.