Mr. Chair, today I rise to speak on a subject that is personally important to me and equally important to all Canadians, which is their retirement. After many years spent in the Canadian workforce building the Canada that we have today and caring for their families, Canadian seniors deserve to have the benefit of a top notch retirement system that will support them through their retirement. One of the best ways to support our seniors is by cutting taxes and leaving money in their pockets. I am proud to say that our Conservative government has delivered on lowering taxes.
Now there are many examples that I can provide on what this government has accomplished for retirees over the past four years. We have increased the age credit amount by $2,000, saving seniors hundreds of dollars. We doubled the pension income credit, the first time it was ever increased. We increased the age limit for maturing pensions and RRSPs from age 69 to 71, allowing seniors to save longer for their retirement. We introduced the tax-free savings account, the most important savings tool to be introduced since the RRSP. Seniors benefit immensely from this account. It provides them with a savings vehicle after they must withdraw their money from their RRSPs and RRIFs.
Finally and perhaps most importantly, we introduced pension income splitting, one of the most important tax changes for seniors ever instituted and one that seniors of Halton indicate to me over and over again has been incredibly important to them, because for many seniors this means thousands of dollars off their taxes every year. Clearly, we are getting things done for seniors, and the seniors in my region of Halton, as I indicated, are telling me this.
Our Conservative government also has a strong record when it comes to retirement income. The global recession exacerbated the fears of many Canadians about the adequacy of their retirement savings. As markets plummeted around the world, so did the savings of many Canadians. But our government listened to the concerns of Canadians and we granted special one-time relief to help them get through this time. We reduced the mandatory minimum RRIF withdrawal by 25% so that Canadians could hold onto their savings for better times.
Our government continues to listen to the concerns of seniors and Canadians across this country. As Canada's labour minister, I am concerned as well with the aging workforce in Canada, so I am listening to older workers who are calling for elimination of the mandatory retirement age. These are issues that are of concern to Canadians. As an elected official and a minister of the Crown, I also regard them as a concern.
Seniors make up nearly 15% of the population of Canada. Canadians are living longer, and increasingly they are becoming more concerned about their retirement incomes and their financial stability past the age of 60 or 65. Not only is an aging workforce concerned with pension but workers are also asking to continue in the workforce longer and employers are benefiting from the years of experience and the knowledge that these older workers bring to the table. These are all important issues for me as Minister of Labour and as well for this government on the whole.
That is why this government is also working toward providing a more permanent solution to the retirement income system, and we begin this by doing what our government has always done. We listen. I know some opposition parties want us to act recklessly and without the proper research, but our government is not going to make changes that will affect generations of Canadians without careful consideration and thorough review. The file is too important to too many Canadians to do otherwise.
In that vein, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance criss-crossed this country and listened to the concerns of pensioners and consulted widely on the proposed solutions to federally regulated pensions. Based on what he heard from Canadians of all walks of life, our government came up with new regulations for federally regulated pensions last October. These regulations and these reforms struck an important balance. They provide the necessary improvements while not harming the current system.
Specifically, our government put in place a regulatory framework to enhance the protections for plan members, to reduce that funding volatility for defined benefit plans, make it easier for participants to negotiate changes to their pension arrangements, improve the framework for defined and negotiated contribution plans and modernize the rules for investments.
These reforms were well received by seniors across Canada. In fact, Susan Eng from Canada's Association for the 50Plus praised them and said, “I'm happy...when you look at something like this you see a lot of positives... we're looking at some of the changes that they've proposed, they sound great”.
The National Association of Federal Retirees said they were “pleased to hear that the Government of Canada is taking action to strengthen the pension framework and enhance benefit security for some workers and retirees”.
Dan Braniff of the Common Front for Retirement Security joined the choir and said, “I wish to congratulate... [your government] for the proposed reforms to the Canada Pension Act. This is an important milestone for creating greater security for many pensioners and plan members...We also wish to show our appreciation for the excellent work of your [Parliamentary Secretary]...who travelled across Canada and obviously listened to the voices of pensioners... Thank you for taking this very important step for better retirement security at this very critical time”.
I know everyone in the House joins Dan Braniff and others in their praise for the parliamentary secretary who, quite frankly, did an amazing job on behalf of all Canadians.
Our government also acknowledges the fact that less than 10% of Canadian pension plans are regulated by the federal government. This is clearly an area of joint responsibility that requires the support, consideration and co-operation of the other provinces. This is a fact that opposition members should keep in mind when they propose measures. We need to support the engagement of the provinces. Indeed, our Conservative government is working collaboratively with the provinces to bring forward realistic and effective solutions.
The first thing we did was put together a joint federal-provincial-territorial working group on pensions to examine the issues. To ensure we got expert advice, we created a research working group with the well-respected academic, Jack Mintz, as chair. After reviewing the research, all federal and provincial governments agreed to examine options to improve Canada's retirement system.
Our government and provincial governments across Canada consulted with Canadians on ways to improve our pan-Canadian retirement income system. Last June we met with Canadians and brought forward innovative proposals for our indepth review. We continue to work with the provinces with these proposals collaboratively. Let me be clear. We will not impose unilateral solutions on the provinces.
Our Conservative government has accomplished much on the pension front. We reduced taxes for seniors and pensioners. We performed the first review of federally-regulated pensions since 1985. We have smart solutions to strengthen our federal pension framework.
Instead of resting on our laurels, we are actively and constructively working with the provinces to propose pan-Canadian solutions. Going forward, we will continue to work with the provinces to move forward on pension reform.
Canadians can rest assured that we will continue to work in their best interest to improve our retirement income system.