I would like to respond on behalf of the coalition a second time.
Of course, we weren't at all pleased about the lack of consideration given to providing this increase to seniors aged 65 to 75, who need it as much as the others.
A new financial allocation could also be created to improve the living conditions of people with the lowest incomes. Some countries provide insurance for seniors, which may be called different things. As a result of this type of top‑up program, people with an income of $18,000 could have a decent net income ranging from $24,000 to $32,000, depending on their city. The situation must be worse in Vancouver and Toronto than it is here. However, I can tell you that the cost of rent has risen dramatically in recent times and that this has negatively affected seniors in many ways. This would be a good first measure to implement.
The next step would be to improve the medical expense tax credits. Seniors are currently the main recipients of health care and they take many drugs. The eligibility threshold should be lowered from 3% to 1.5% for people aged 65 and over. This would provide some relief to the people most in need by ensuring a fairly significant reimbursement.
A number of companies have individual pension plans. Sometimes, for whatever reason, companies go bankrupt or become insolvent. A guarantee fund should be established to ensure that seniors can recover a portion of their pension fund in the event that the company where they worked uses the money for its own survival instead of treating the money as the former employees' retirement fund.
These are the three main measures that I have in mind.
Everyone would need a fairly significant increase in their old age security pension within a short time frame of two to three years. That way, the income of seniors could be increased from $18,000 to $24,000 quite quickly. This is necessary to ensure that these people can have enough money, not only to pay their rent, but to live decently.