Hello everyone. This is my first time before a committee. I’m told you just have to jump right in, so here goes.
As the president said a few moments ago, we deal with a whole range of issues facing seniors: ageism, abuse, exploitation, violence, home support and home care, health, economic and social rights, transportation, taxation, etc. The bill before the committee is of great interest to us, and we wanted to share our comments and reactions with you.
For years, our organization has lobbied government to simplify access to the programs in question. We therefore agree with your desire through this bill to facilitate the application process and make it easier to access the Guaranteed Income Supplement benefit.
We have also denounced the fact that a majority of seniors are unaware of existing assistance programs. In Quebec alone, for years, seniors lost out on hundreds of millions of dollars intended for them. We therefore view your desire to raise public awareness about these programs and to make them accessible to as many eligible seniors as possible in a positive light.
More specifically with regard to the Old Age Security Program, the provision to waive the requirement that Guaranteed Income Supplement and Allowance recipients reapply for these benefits once an initial application has been made is also an excellent initiative.
The simplification of the income tax return for seniors speaks to another one of our concerns.
As part of the broader struggle against poverty, we have deplored the lack of harmonization among the various programs, measures, departments and levels of government. We look favourably on your desire to work more closely with provincial governments to harmonize the assistance programs for seniors, particularly those addressed by this bill.
We only saw the actual wording of the bill a few days ago and are, therefore, unable to comment on the more specific and technical aspects of its provisions. We are therefore addressing considerations of a more general nature.
We appreciate the aspects we have just mentioned, but would nonetheless like to point out to the committee how important it is to implement the bill in a way that reflects its intentions.
We thank you for your invitation to appear before this committee and for your attention to our comments.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.