Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be speaking today to the bill introduced by the member for Laval—Les Îles.
Members are no doubt aware that the bill's sponsor represents the riding next to Rivière-des-Mille-Îles. We often participate in activities together, so I can attest to her community involvement and the fact that she is often featured in community media as well. I would like to thank her for her dedication and her contribution to righting the wrongs committed against guaranteed income supplement recipients.
Basically, the bill introduced by my colleague aims to amend the Old Age Security Act so that seniors who receive the guaranteed income supplement have the option of taking $2,500 out of their RRSP to pay for funeral arrangements without it affecting their GIS benefits.
When a loved one dies, the family must pay for the funeral. This represents a significant financial burden for low-income households. This bill is important for the dignity of our seniors. It gives them the peace of mind that comes from knowing that they will not be leaving their family with the burden of paying for their funeral.
My colleague's bill provides our seniors with an incentive to prearrange their funerals and protect themselves from the increase in the cost of living.
The Conservative government has indicated that it will not give a royal recommendation to the bill because of the cost. Quite frankly, that is ridiculous.
According to the Library of Parliament's estimates, this bill will cost the federal government only $132,000 a year. This is very little given that it would help more than 300,000 Canadian seniors. Come to think of it, $132,000 is about what Senator Mike Duffy makes, and this would be a much better use of that money.
I believe that it is better to spend public funds on a program that makes it possible to prepay for funeral arrangements without a penalty than on an archaic and undemocratic Senate that abuses public funds. However, those are not the Conservative government's priorities. The Conservative Party's gravy train is chugging along, but the Conservatives are asking seniors who live in poverty to tighten their belts.
Although poverty is a problem in many Canadian households, single people who are 65 and over are particularly susceptible to poverty. The universal pension program accounts for 77% of these seniors' income.
Among seniors, poverty strikes more women than men. This is due to the fact that, in the past, many women stayed in the home to take care of their families. Although many went back to work afterwards, their careers were much shorter and they therefore did not have enough time to accumulate sufficient assets to provide themselves with adequate incomes when they retired.
In Quebec, seniors are getting poorer and poorer and accumulating more and more debt. The percentage of seniors' households carrying debt has more than doubled in 17 years. A study by the Institut de recherche et d'informations socio-économiques published in 2011 found that, in Quebec, the number of seniors living below the low income cut-off tripled between 1996 and 2008. This segment of the population increased from 4.6% to 12.3%.
In the Laurentides region, the Agence de la santé estimates that 7% of seniors aged 65 and older are living below the low income cutoff. This represents about 4,000 people. The Conservative government is only adding to the problem.
According to the Center for Interuniversity Research and Analysis of Organizations, by raising the eligibility age for old age security and guaranteed income supplement benefits from 65 to 67, the Conservative government will drive up the number of people living under the low income cutoff from 6% to 17%.
By changing the eligibility age for old age security, the federal government will download responsibility for more seniors onto Quebec and the other provinces, which will be forced to spend more on social assistance.
In fact, once the change is made, the Canadian government could save $6.9 billion a year while the provinces will lose more than $450 million a year and will have to increase spending on social assistance by $164 million in 2030.
As economics professor and co-author of the study, Jean-Yves Duclos, said:
The main problem with the reform is that it disproportionately attacks the poorest people and will have less of an impact on those with means, who do not often receive old age security benefits or the guaranteed income supplement.
The fight against poverty, particularly among seniors, is is central to our political action. In February 2011, the hon. member for Pierrefonds—Dollard moved a motion in the House of Commons that called on the Prime Minister to lift seniors out of poverty in the next budget. The motion read as follows:
That this House reject calls by the Prime Minister to balance the Conservative deficit on the backs of Canada’s seniors by means such as raising the age of eligibility for Old Age Security and call on the government to make the reduction and eventual elimination of seniors’ poverty a cornerstone of the next budget.
Unfortunately, and this does not surprise me, the motion was rejected by the Conservative government. It is clear that guaranteeing a suitable retirement for our seniors is not the government's priority.
Unlike the Conservatives, who increased the age of eligibility for old age security from 65 to 67, the NDP is proposing real measures for improving financial security for seniors. We understand how exasperated and frustrated seniors are about the cost of living and the lack of support during the aging process. We are fighting relentlessly to protect pension plans so that people with disabilities, seniors and all Canadians can live with dignity and security in their retirement.
To that end, we have come up with a plan for fighting poverty and helping seniors. We are proposing that the federal government improve the Canada pension plan and the Quebec pension plan by gradually doubling the amount of benefits over seven years from 25% to 50% of pensionable earnings.
What is more, we are calling on the federal government to gradually improve the guaranteed income supplement. We are calling for investment in home care and services, through the public health care system. Measures for making prescription drugs safer and more affordable should also be adopted.
Finally, we call for investments in social housing and, of course, in public transit. In fact, my colleague's bill is part of a larger NDP program to help Canada's seniors.
Poverty is a big concern for me, especially poverty among seniors. I was particularly shocked to learn that because of the dithering of the Liberal and Conservative governments in contacting those entitled to the guaranteed income supplement, 160,000 seniors eligible for the supplement were not receiving any payments. The government had known about this problem since 2011, but it insisted on maintaining its red tape. It is estimated that, for the whole of Canada, this helped the government generate savings of $300 million on the backs of its poorest seniors.
In March 2012, I proposed amendments to the Old Age Security Act to provide for automatic enrolment for the GIS. My bill forced the federal government to take the necessary steps to reach recipients. A few weeks after I introduced my bill, the government finally picked it up and proposed a proactive mechanism to contact eligible seniors.
In conclusion, I urge all members of the House to support the exceptional bill introduced by my colleague from Laval—Les Îles to ensure that all seniors can age with dignity.