Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for giving me the opportunity to talk about very important issues concerning our seniors.
In recent months, we announced two important measures that will have a significant impact on our seniors' well-being. The first was dropping the age of eligibility for old age security down to 65. That will protect 100,000 seniors from extreme poverty, prevent the poverty rate among seniors aged 65 to 66 from climbing from 6% to 17%, and guard the most vulnerable 20% of seniors against a 40% burden.
The second was increasing the guaranteed income supplement, which will help 900,000 seniors across the country by giving them up to $950 more per year. This measure will lift 13,000 seniors out of poverty.