Mr. Speaker, I am somewhat surprised that the member opposite, having voted against the budget, is on the side that he purports to be.
Our Conservative government recognizes that Canada's seniors help build and make our country great. That is why the next phase of Canada's economic action plan introduces new measures to improve the quality of life of, and expand the opportunities for, Canadian seniors. It includes increasing the guaranteed income supplement for seniors by $600 for single seniors and $840 for couples, thereby helping more than 680,000 seniors across the country; enhancing the new horizons for seniors program; extending the targeted initiative for older workers; eliminating the mandatory retirement age for federally regulated employees; and extending the eco-energy retrofit program, which I referred to earlier.
These measures build on the over $2.3 billion in annual tax relief our government has provided to seniors and pensioners since 2006, including removing over 85,000 seniors from the tax rolls, introducing pension income splitting, increasing the age credit amount, doubling the pension income credit and increasing the guaranteed income supplement.