Thank you, Minister, for being here, and to your team for the important work they're doing.
Minister, we know seniors are struggling right now. They can barely make ends meet. With inflation and with the delay in the pharmacare plan that was promised by this government, the costs of everything are suffocating seniors. I'm glad you've moved the retirement age back to 65 from 67, which the Conservatives had decided to move forward, but your plan to increase OAS by 10% for those over 75 and to exclude those from 65 to 75 is costly to those seniors and has created a two-tier system.
The PBO costed out what it would cost if you included those 65 to 75, and it would be $2.9 billion. Basically, it would cost about half a per cent of a corporate tax increase to cover those 65 to 75.
My concern is this: Why are you choosing corporate welfare, with the lowest corporate tax rate in the G7, over helping seniors who are struggling right now?
I have to say that we put forward proposals to tax the wealthiest of Canadians. Those proposals would have resulted in $10 billion in taxes, and you defeated them. You chose to support large corporations that are reaping excess profits, instead of giving increases to seniors. Why?