Mr. Speaker, I was listening to my colleague and he has part of the solution. Nonetheless, as I was saying earlier, when his party, the Liberal Party, had the chance to reduce the GST or give the school boards GST rebates, it did not take it.
We must not forget that seniors own property or they are renters. They pay rent. To help them we could, among other things, accept the rulings of the Court of Quebec and the Ontario Court. These rulings call for GST rebates for school boards, which could have alleviated the pressure of school taxes that are often paid by retirees and seniors. They see their taxes go up, but they never see their income go up. They often have to give up their property and go to a home. The next thing they know, the cost of housing increases because the school taxes and municipal taxes have increased.
When the Liberal Party was in office, it should have adopted a measure to reduce expenses for seniors. For example, in the case of those who own a residence and those who pay rent, it could have been to accept that school boards be refunded the GST. Then, there would not have been a direct transfer of the GST costs to the taxes paid by citizens.
Of course, when they had the opportunity to do so, the Liberals did not do it. And the Conservatives carry on. Should there be a measure to deal directly with the issue of what seniors can afford to pay? Bloc Québécois members think so. Seniors' income and pensions will have to be adjusted, or else these people should get tax credits.
We are always talking about the cost of living. However, the cost of living for a senior is not the same as for a family. The cost of living is often determined by calculating the costs of a family of two adults and two children. Let us not forget that the expenses incurred by seniors are not the same. It is not food that is an issue for them, it is the cost of drugs and housing. It is costing increasingly more to live in a place that is safe and secure. At some point, we will have to adjust credits for seniors or their income, so that they can pay for their own expenses, which are increasing at a faster pace than the cost of living of ordinary citizens.