Dean Allison

[Petitions, November 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions from all across the country in regard to income trusts. The petitioners are asking the minister to remove the uncertainty about the future of income trusts, which has caused seniors and Canadians saving for retirement to lose thousands of dollars from their personal savings.

[Old Age Security Act, October 24th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-301, an act to amend the Old Age Security Act in regard to the monthly guaranteed income supplement. This bill would amend the Old Age Security Act to allow eligible pensioners to receive a monthly guaranteed income supplement without having to make application. It also would repeal the restrictions respecting retroactivity.

I applaud the intent of Bill C-301. Although there are a few technical details that need to be reviewed, I am quite prepared to support this legislation in principle and I look forward to seeing it discussed in committee.

Amending the Old Age Security Act to ensure that eligible pensioners receive their monthly guaranteed income supplement is, quite simply, an issue of fairness. All too often we see the Liberal government doing whatever it can to squeeze every last dime out of Canadian taxpayers regardless of their ability to pay.

The freeze on income trusts and the resulting uncertainty for investors, especially seniors, is a perfect example. This government's problem with existing income trusts is that investors get to keep more of their own money, a unique concept that is foreign to this government. Many of these investors are seniors who rely on income trusts for financial security in their retirement years.

A recent letter to the Minister of Finance from CARP, the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, stated that Canadian “seniors are actually enraged, frightened and panicked” in relation to this government's indecisiveness on income trusts. They are not supportive, as the minister would suggest, showing once again that this government really does not understand and is out of touch with the Canadian public.

One senior writes to the government that:

Retirees are beyond the saving stage in their lives and spend almost all of their income. This benefits the Canadian economy. Your actions are happening at a time when retirees are facing some very major increases such as energy costs. This is a time for government to be compassionate and fair with retirees who have helped to make Canada the great country that it is.

Another senior writes:

Many seniors have been hurt by the uncertainty caused by the government's insensitive handling of the income trust situation.

Yet another senior is on record as saying:

The government has taken the solid platform from under our feet and replaced it with an open shaft.

Canadian seniors are continually facing the effects of a shrinking dollar: increasing energy costs that directly affect the ability of seniors to heat their homes and put gasoline in their cars; property taxes that continue to escalate, making it difficult for them to stay in their own homes; and indeed, the rising costs related to the basic necessities of life such as food. All of these continue to make it difficult for seniors to survive.

Not only is this government not providing seniors with the financial assistance they really need, the government is actually penalizing many seniors through a system that all too often utilizes clawbacks.

If the government deems it appropriate to cast a cloud of apprehension onto seniors when it reviews income trusts and to make it almost impossible for most seniors who really need financial assistance to obtain it, then it would be quite hypocritical for Liberal MPs to shut down further study in ensuring that GIS payments reaches their intended recipients.

Even if there are existing questions about implementation of costs, Canadian seniors deserve to see this bill pass second reading and go forward for further study. Indeed, if the government truly believes that Bill C-66 can be effective in helping those most in need of assistance with high energy costs, I do not see how the Liberals can vote against ensuring that seniors receive their due.

We all know that Bill C-66 sets out a specific eligibility criterion for seniors to receive the proposed energy rebate payment. Single seniors must be receiving the GIS in order to get their $125 in assistance. Of course, the Liberal government's generous offer of assistance with high energy costs becomes nothing more than a hollow promise when in fact hundreds of thousands of seniors miss out because they fail to fill out a form.

Again, while this government never misses an opportunity to collect money from Canadians, it just is not as enthusiastic about ensuring that Canadians get to keep what is rightfully theirs. This bill is an opportunity to make some amends.

However, I find it ironic that the particular assistance for those pensioners in need, those whom we are talking about today, is called a “guaranteed income supplement”. The National Advisory Council on Aging recently released a report entitled “Seniors on the Margins, Aging in Poverty in Canada”. In this report, the council states that there are more than 50,000 seniors who are eligible for the old age security pension but have not applied and more than 300,000 seniors who are eligible for the supplement but are not receiving it.

In 2001 a Toronto food bank raised the alarm when people aged 60 and over accounted for 10% of its users and only a minority of these individuals knew about and were receiving GIS and allowance benefits. They were living under very difficult circumstances. Once the rent was paid, the median amount remaining per week for all other expenses was a mere $34.65, yet the estimated average cost of food for one week in Toronto is over $40.

Forty per cent of those individuals were having difficulty paying for their medication every month and 27% were not taking their medication for lack of money.

That same year, the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities issued a report to this House which concluded that there were more than 380,000 Canadian seniors who were eligible for this supplement but were not receiving it.

Incidentally, the title of the report was “The Guaranteed Income Supplement: The Duty to Reach All”. That was four years ago. I think I am being more than reasonable in suggesting that it is time for the government to start taking some action. Otherwise, the guaranteed income supplement is not really much of a guarantee, is it?

Eligible seniors must apply every single year to receive the supplement and we know there are many reasons why this application is not filled out. These reasons include not understanding the eligibility requirements or tax returns and educational pamphlets due to language barriers, functional illiteracy and failing eyesight or, quite simply, because of a lack of awareness that the GIS must be applied for on an annual basis.

The one common factor is that these seniors have very little money during their retirement years and are among the most vulnerable members of our society. Instead of enjoying their retirement in dignity and comfort, too many Canadian seniors are struggling for the basic necessities of life.

We have a duty to help—not neglect—the seniors who helped build this country. By ignoring the eligible seniors who are losing out on the financial assistance they have been guaranteed, we are also stripping away other rights and privileges they deserve. Many provinces have programs such as prescription drug plans, other income supplements, heating oil subsidies and home care assistance programs that are available only for those individuals receiving GIS. When an eligible Canadian senior does not receive his or her guaranteed income supplement, for whatever reason, he or she also loses out on other services that are essential to their quality of life.

Allowing eligible pensioners to receive their monthly GIS without having to make a yearly application is a measure that I support, not only out of compassion but also because it is simply the right thing to do for those in need. Bill C-301 would enable automatic processing of the guaranteed income supplement based on information from the Ministry of National Revenue, and let us face it, if we owe any money to the tax department, we know that they make sure they let us know in a big hurry.

I believe further attention must be paid to details to ensure that the GIS does in fact reach everyone to whom it is applicable. The retroactivity aspect of this bill also requires more research and definition. Who qualifies for retroactive payments? How far back should it apply? How will it be implemented? What, if any, restrictions will be in place? These are all important questions that deserve detailed scrutiny. I would very much like to see this bill go to committee so that it can be carefully examined and given the details it needs.

Giving the ministry authority to automatically provide GIS to those who deserve it does not necessarily provide the ministry with the capability to do the same. I am certain that this legislation can be reinforced and strengthened for the benefit of our seniors.

The need is unquestionable. As the Conservative critic for seniors' issues, I have consulted with seniors across Canada and I can say that unarguably there is a broad consensus from coast to coast to coast that seniors need to automatically receive any and all benefits as they become eligible.

Here are a few of the facts. OAS and CPP are the main sources of income for over two-thirds of seniors, and on average, 29% of the total income for seniors is derived from private employers' pensions and RRSPs, 27% from OAS, including GIS, and 20% from CPP and QPP. CPP benefits replace approximately 25% of income earned, for which a worker contributed to CPP and QPP, and 35% of seniors receive GIS.

As we can readily see, many seniors count on every dollar just to survive. Let us not deny seniors their rights. If the Liberals are truly concerned, as they have led us to believe, then let them as the government give us a royal recommendation and give us an opportunity to vote on Bill C-301. Let us put this to the House for a free vote. If the government truly cares about seniors, it will give seniors not lip service but action.

I ask that we as their elected representatives do what is right and necessary to ensure that those individuals who helped build our nation receive what is rightfully theirs.

[Old Age Security Act, October 24th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, it probably is 10%, and I realize the number is coming down, but it could be upward to 25% of those eligible for GIS and some of the other supplements?

How does the member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain square the fact that the government may not allow us to vote on this considering that we need royal assent and considering that Bill C-66 leads us to believe the government is concerned about this group?

[Income Trusts, October 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, CARP, an organization representing over 400,000 seniors, has recently sent a letter to the Minister of Finance regarding his mishandling of income trusts. This letter states that Canadian seniors are enraged, frightened and panicked, not supportive as the minister may suggest.

In the letter from CARP one senior states:

Many seniors have been hurt by the uncertainty caused by the government’s insensitive handling of the Income Trust situation.

Another senior writes:

The government has taken the solid platform from under our feet and replaced it with an open shaft.

When will the minister stop giving the shaft to Canadian seniors?

[Telecommunications Act, October 20th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his questions of how we enforce it, make it effective, and who does the customer call with complaints?

This has been the challenge with some of the legislation that has come forward from the government. The challenge has been not necessarily the intent, because sometimes I think the intent has been good. The challenge has been in the details, how do we operate, enforce, get people on the list, and ensure the right ones are on the list.

Once again, my concern is that, given its previous history, the government has not demonstrated that it has the ability to execute that properly. That will be the challenge as we move forward with this legislation.

[Telecommunications Act, October 20th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, in terms of whether fines will do what is needed, I guess that would certainly be one of our concerns. As we said before, one of the issues of the original gun registry was to register guns, which has proven to be a huge failure.

The challenge as we look at this, although a do not call registry is good in principle, is the implementation and once again the devil is in the details. How are we going dissuade people? Quite frankly, fines may not be enough. The next point is whether there are going to be teeth. Are they going to be able to collect the fines? That is a question that I guess we will have to see. We will want to hear more from the committee in terms of recommendations to get it implemented.

[Telecommunications Act, October 20th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to the spirit of Bill C-37. This bill provides the framework for establishing a national do not call registry to protect Canadians from unsolicited and unwanted telemarketing calls.

The bill as originally presented was weak. It did not allow for those organizations such as charities, political parties and pre-existing customer relationships to continue. What it did was make it illegal for anyone to make an unsolicited telephone call to any individual whose name was included on the do not call registry.

Through the extensive efforts of many of my colleagues in the Conservative Party as well as those in the NDP, important amendments to the bill were made and adopted at committee. As a direct result of these amendments, I can now support the bill although I would say that I am cautiously optimistic.

It has become increasingly clear that Canadians want and indeed need a national do not call registry. Telemarketing is on the increase as more and more legitimate businesses are making use of the telephone as their primary source of reaching the consumer. Not only do Canadian consumers believe that this bill is necessary, so does the CMA.

The Canadian Marketing Association supports the bill and in fact has been lobbying for the creation of a national do not call registry since 2001. CMA president John Gustavson had this to say: “We believe a compulsory call service for all companies that use the telephone to market their goods and services to potential customers is the most effective means to curtail customer annoyance with telemarketers”.

There are many telemarketing analysts who do not agree with the need for a national do not call registry. They believe that the current rules are adequate in regulating telemarketers through voluntary or company specific do not call lists that have been in the industry standard form.

Some also believe that it removes a company's opportunity to reach a customer directly and therefore reduces the customer's knowledge of new products and services that could improve their lives. This argument does not hold water. Telemarketers who feel that their livelihood is being taken away from them are the ones who are generally working outside the system. In response, Mr. Gustavson said that such a service will help protect the viability of a marketing medium that employs over 270,000 Canadians and generates more than $16 billion in sales each year.

The bottom line is that Canadians are tired of being harassed and sometimes bullied by telemarketers. They are fed up with telemarketers being able to intrude on their lives, especially at home. Many of the interruptions usually come at a bad time and disrupt household and family routines. I am sure everyone here has experienced one of these calls personally. For example, we are just about to sit down for a nice dinner with the family after a long intense day at the office and the phone rings. There on the other end of the line is one of those pesky telemarketers who just will not take no for an answer. At the end of the call the telemarketer has us so frustrated that when we finally get off the phone our mood spills over to the family dinner and ruins the evening.

Many Canadians consider calls from telemarketing firms to be annoying and would prefer not to receive them at all. A recent poll conducted by Environics for Industry Canada cited that 97% of Canadians reported having negative reactions to telemarketing calls. The same poll indicated that 79% of people surveyed supported a national do not call directory, 66% of whom said they would sign up for the service.

A similar do not call registry was implemented in the United States in 2003 and has become very popular. Over 65 million people have registered thus far. As for whether the program is working or not, recent evidence shows it has been an overwhelming success. Many Americans who had received 30 or more telemarketing calls a month say the calls have dropped to less than five per month since they have registered. More than half of the people on the list say they do not receive any calls at all.

There is a greater importance to a national do not call registry than the ability to stop being annoyed by telemarketing calls.

The Canadian Association of Retired Persons has estimated that telemarketing investment schemes and fraud costs Canadians $3 billion per year. Seniors lose more than anyone else on a dollar per dollar basis. The organization PhoneBusters estimates that those over the age of 60 represent 56% of the total victims of telemarketing fraud with an average dollar loss of $12,000 per person.

Of all the victims of telemarketing fraud, seniors represent 85% of those who have lost more than $5,000. While telemarketing is a nuisance to some Canadians, unwanted telemarketing can be financially devastating to seniors.

Seniors make easy targets to telemarketing fraud because they often live alone and tend to have savings, assets or disposable income. Seniors are more trusting and are more likely to fall for a bogus sales pitch. Those seniors who have been scammed before usually do not report losing their money in fear of embarrassment. Telemarketing fraudsters know this and target them again and again. In fact their names and numbers are sold to other telemarketing fraudsters so they can also sucker them in to buying products and services they do not need and in many cases may not even receive.

Telemarketing con artists are experts at gaining the trust of seniors and making them feel as though they have their best interest in mind. Trusting seniors will give away personal information such as bank information, credit and debit card information, and before they know it their savings and investments could be cleaned out and they are left with nothing. They literally give away the house because the telemarketers convince them that this opportunity will help better their quality of life or they will help them and their families be financially independent for years to come.

I am sure all members of the House have heard the following story. An elderly woman living alone gets a call from a friendly telemarketer who takes the time to talk with her, not only about the product he or she is trying to sell but appears to genuinely care about her. After a few additional phone calls from the same telemarketer, the elderly woman decides to buy what the telemarketer is offering. She says she has spoken with this person a number of times, she does not consider the person a stranger and trusts giving her or him money.

Soon after the senior has handed over her entire life savings to this new phone friend, she realizes she has been scammed. This is about the time the telemarketing fraudster is enjoying the luxury vacation on a sunny south Pacific island.

Perhaps this is not the most common type of telemarketing activity, but it is a reality. I for one worry about the well-being of my parents and grandparents and other elderly relatives. I want them protected from these telemarketers. They have all worked hard throughout their lives to accumulate savings for their retirement and no one has the right to take that away from them. No one here wants to find out that their elderly parents, grandparents or relatives have lost their life savings because of some telemarketing scam. I am sure everyone here feels the same way.

The establishment of a national do not call list is long overdue in this country. Bill C-37 will assist in preventing telemarketing fraud.

Despite my support for the national do not call registry, I have a major cause for concern over the potential cost of the program. We all know what happened the last time the Liberal government created a national registry. The history of spending by the Liberal government can be described as nothing more than astonishing and incompetent as displayed by the national gun registry, the cost of which now is approaching $2 billion.

A national do not call registry could be effective and popular with Canadians. However, as the federal gun registry has shown, the government has an uncanny way of turning a modest project into a billion dollar fiasco. In other words, this project would be worthwhile but only if it is implemented properly and is cost effective. It must also include checks and balances in relation to monitoring its affordability and effectiveness.

I am pleased that we are considering a national do not call registry in Canada, but I would like to once again emphasize my concern regarding the cost and implementation.

I am not so sure that CRTC is the body to run it. The government has stated that if the bill is passed, the CRTC would embark on a series of consultations with industry and consumers to determine how best to implement the changes in the way in which telemarketing calls are regulated. What is not clear is how the list will operate, how much it will cost and whether telemarketing companies that break the rules be punished.

The current Telecommunications Act provides for the possibility of criminal prosecution for the contravention of a CRTC order with respect to telemarketing calls. Such prosecutions are rare and the CRTC itself lacks the power to impose fines.

The CRTC has become blind to increasingly rapid changes in the telecommunications industry, archaic in its approach to regulation, and unresponsive to the needs of Canadians. The role of database administrator as it relates to the national do no call registry will be new to the CRTC and arguably outside of its mandate.

For this reason, Parliament must have more details of how the CRTC plans to administer and regulate the do not call registry. The citizens of this country deserve to enjoy the privacy of their own homes and not to be disturbed by telemarketing rants. Most importantly, we need to protect our seniors from fraudulent telemarketing scams.

Finally, the question of implementation, administration and overall cost of the registry has to be addressed. We have seen that the Liberal government has a track record of foolishly spending taxpayers' money. Measures must be put in place to guarantee that this registry does not end up as an other Liberal spending spree. After all, nothing is scarier than seeing a Liberal hand sifting through our pockets.

[Home Heating Prices, October 5th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday after pressure from the opposition, the government announced that it would be introducing a program to help low income Canadians and seniors with the high cost of heating their homes this winter. The minister said that the package is heavily geared toward helping the most vulnerable within society.

The last time the Liberals tried such a rebate program it was slammed by the Auditor General because some 16,000 prisoners, dead people, and Canadians living outside Canada received the cheques.

According to the minister, this time the rebate program will be tied to individuals who are eligible for child benefits and seniors who qualify for the GIS. According to a report issued this week by the National Advisory Council on Aging, we know that there are in excess of 300,000 seniors in Canada who are eligible for the GIS who do not receive it. How will they get the rebate?

In addition, there are thousands of low income Canadians who live alone and do not receive any child benefits. How will they get the rebate? The fact is that none of these rebates will reach the Canadians who need it most and they will be forced in many cases to choose this winter between eating or staying warm.

[Government Contracts, September 28th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, it becomes clearer every day that if one wants a government contract it all boils down to who you know in the PMO.

It is not just Liberal friendly ad firms that get rich at taxpayers expense. It is also Prime Minister friendly firms as well. A Liberal insider confirmed months ago that there were contracts issued to the PMO friendly firms with no competition. We now know that those contracts were worth over $71 million.

Why did the Prime Minister's friends at Earnscliffe and EKOS receive these contracts with little or no competition when they were actually just working on his behalf?

[Income Trusts, September 28th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, there is an uneasy nervousness, especially among seniors, regarding the current shadow hanging over income trusts. It is solely based on the government's recent decision. Or should I say “indecision”?

Seniors draw regularly from their investments to supplement their retirement and when the value of their investments drops so does their retirement income. In a recent email, a St. Catharines senior writes:

I am retired and depend on distributions from income trusts to supplement my pension. The remarks by the Finance Minister have confused the situation...At the present time, finances of individuals in my position are in limbo.

The finance minister's reckless move to avoid making a decision on new income trusts has had a detrimental impact on the nest eggs of seniors and ordinary Canadians saving for retirement. Let us call it what it really is: another Liberal tax grab.

With energy costs continuing to soar and winter fast approaching, this government has done nothing but offer the double whammy to our seniors: higher energy costs and higher taxes. It is time we stopped penalizing our seniors and started to give them the respect they so richly deserve.