Madam Speaker, New Democrats are calling for the Canada pension plan to be doubled, to raise the guaranteed income supplement for low income seniors and to protect workplace pensions.
With 1.5 million Canadians still out of work and six in ten living paycheque to paycheque, we are seeing that there is still a lot of economic recovery to be made.
No one is in a better position to know this than Canada's seniors, who struggle to survive with increasingly tight budgets while the cost of basic necessities such as heating oil, fruit and vegetables keeps climbing.
Canada's seniors have been thrown a bone by the government in the form of $1.55 a month increase in their OAS, an incredible amount that will help everyone forget about the fake lake at the G8, as well as the latest Conservative-Liberal tax grab, the HST. The $1.55 is almost enough for a can of beans or a cup of coffee.
Mr. Robert Taylor of Elliot Lake is so excited about this development that he is saving up his increase. He would like the Prime Minister to tell him how best to invest this windfall so that he can really maximize his extra $18.65 a year.