Mr. Speaker, could the hon. member inform the House of his and his party support or lack thereof for the proposal to create a two-tiered guaranteed income supplement program?
The member must be aware that under the current terms and conditions of eligibility for the guaranteed income supplement program, the GIS program, senior citizens would have to earn a baseline income of approximately $16,000 a year or less. There are various grades and scales to that, but that is the baseline. However, the government's proposal is to reduce this, to create a second tier of benefits, a two-tiered program whereby any senior citizen making $7,000 a year or less would be the only ones eligible for the top-up the government is proposing.
Is the hon. member and his government suggesting that those senior citizens who make anywhere between $7,000 and $16,000 are living in the laps of luxury?