Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight in adjournment proceedings to pursue a question that I originally put to the Prime Minister in the wake of the February 11 budget.
It is particularly timely and nothing short of an unbelievable coincidence that I rise to pursue the question of why this particular administration has chosen to go after retired civil servants, veterans, and retired members of the RCMP and change the terms on which they retired. I am speaking of their health benefits, which were part of their remuneration package when they were working in the federal government, working for us, defending Canada, sacrificing for this country. Now in their retirement the terms of their medical benefit package are being renegotiated.
I asked the Prime Minister, given that the government is trying to recoup approximately $7 billion over a six-year period, why it went after retired Canadians, people living on fixed incomes for whom this would be a real hardship when there are other alternatives. I will mention one of the alternatives that I put to the Prime Minister.
There is over $600 billion currently sloshing around in the bank accounts of corporations. The former minister of finance told us that these corporations are not merely large, wealthy corporations but are the “job creators”. We were given the fiction that by reducing Canada's corporate tax rates, the lowest in the industrialized world, we would be liberating corporations that out of the goodness of their hearts would continue to create as many jobs as possible with the monies they now had on hand.
Instead, far in excess of the proportion of such monies held in the United States by corporations there, Canada's corporations now have, as I said, over $600 billion, which former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney has described as “dead money”. We have the former minister of finance telling us that these guys are job creators while the former governor of the Bank of Canada is telling us the reality. These corporations have accumulated so much cash but they are not using it. That cash described as “dead money” is not doing a single useful thing for the Canadian economy.
In question period I asked the Prime Minister why he chose to go after pensioners instead of making a modest change to the taxation rate of corporations, because this $600 billion is a staggering 32% of Canadian GDP. This is an amazing opportunity.
The reason I say it is an incredible coincidence that today of all days I am pursing this question is that earlier today the President of the Treasury Board held a press conference to announce that an agreement had been reached. This agreement is virtually the same thing that was announced in the budget, with some modifications. Retired members of the Canadian civil service, veterans, and so on will still move to a 50:50 cost-sharing instead of the current 75:25. There are a number of other minor changes, but these again are egregious and will create hardship.
The press release says it will not affect anyone considered a low-income senior, but low income is described as anyone making less than $16,728 as an individual or less than $22,000 as a couple. This is not enough to protect people living on fixed income. People living in dire poverty are the only ones who will be protected from these changes.
I ask the hon. parliamentary secretary if Canada could not do better for those who have served us so well.