Thank you, Mr. Ste-Marie.
With that announcement, the Prime Minister is clearly being consistent. He actually announced that he would be increasing the old age security benefit by 10% on September 18, 2019, when he was courting seniors. They welcome that. However, why create two categories of seniors? We know that those aged 65 and older are in great financial distress. At the Réseau FADOQ, we wonder why the old age security benefit is not being increased by 10% now, this year, for all seniors, not just for those aged 75 and older.
Furthermore, in a lot of cases, the financial distress is worse among women. Most of the time, the women have stayed at home for years to raise children and look after their education. They were not able to earn income in the workforce during that time. That means that they have not accumulated any pension funds. In addition, a number of those women, even those older than 65, are becoming caregivers to their aging parents. Again, they are the ones who have to deal with the shortfall. Beyond 60 or 65, women are much more likely than men to survive their spouse. In that respect too, women are at an economic disadvantage.
Increases in the cost of living are undeniable. During the pandemic, delivery services had a considerable effect on those aged 65 and older, as did the increase in the cost of a basket of groceries.
We receive thousands of messages and calls from those aged 65 and older. They do not understand why the government has created two categories of seniors by providing the increase only to those aged 75 and older. One senior told me that, when he goes to the supermarket and has to pay for his groceries, he knows full well that he won't be able to make it to the end of the month. He will have a hard time paying for his medications, his rent, the electricity bill, and so on. So you can see precarious financial situations everywhere.