Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by mentioning that I will be sharing my time with my hon. neighbour, the member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot.
I feel very bitter as I rise to speak in the House today about the budget tabled on Monday, April 19. I first want to point out that as the critic for the status of women, I can only be delighted that it was tabled by the first female finance minister. Another glass ceiling has been shattered. As a feminist, I can tick that off the list.
On Monday evening, some of the headlines were saying that Ottawa supports seniors. The next day, disillusionment quickly set in, especially because the federal government is not addressing our two main demands: adequate, recurrent funding for health, which is the only formal demand from the Quebec government, and an increase to old age security, or OAS, for those 65 and older.
In my speech today, I will focus on the lack of support for seniors and the total lack of health transfers, and I will close with comments about a few good things in the budget.
When it comes to seniors, the government is keeping its election promise to increase old age security for people over 75. This increase amounts to roughly $766 a year, or $63.83 a month. This increase will come into effect in 2022 only and will require legislation in order to be implemented. For now, in 2021, the government is only committing to making a one-time payment of $500 this summer, just for people 75 and up. In short, Ottawa is not honouring our request to avoid creating two classes of seniors and is not formally committing to anything other than a one-time measure before the next election. The FADOQ thinks that is an odd coincidence and that something smells fishy. Essentially, it is still an election promise, as it was in 2019.
From day one of the pandemic, I have repeatedly said that seniors are the primary victims of COVID-19. Overrepresented in the number of deaths, they are also the ones who are hardest hit by the virus: isolation, anxiety, and loss of their spending power. Old age security, which is meant to keep all seniors out of poverty, is missing the mark. Indexing the benefits by a measly 0.1% for the October to December 2020 quarter will not address cost-of-living increases that have been exacerbated by the pandemic.
It is estimated that food prices in Quebec in 2021 will rise faster than inflation. Our parents and grandparents, who built the Quebec we live in now, deserve better than being forgotten by the federal government. The FADOQ said that the increase of October 1, 2020, the International Day of Older Persons, represented on average just $1.50. That is not even enough to buy a Tim Hortons coffee; it is another slap in the face.
The pandemic has exacerbated the decline in seniors' purchasing power. In 2019, and I am not going to go back earlier than 2019 now, the Liberals promised a 10% increase to old age security for seniors aged 75 and over, but that promise has still not been fulfilled with budget 2021. The budget mentions that a bill will be introduced, which is fine, but when? Seniors will have to wait until the end of summer 2022.
Around 6.4 million people aged 65 and over receive old age security. The Liberal's promise for people aged 75 and over, which they reiterated in budget 2021, would leave half of all recipients, aged 65 to 74, out in the cold.
Let us set the record straight. When it was time to change course and significantly increase benefits over the long term, all the Liberals really did for seniors during the pandemic was to provide one-time assistance. They gave seniors who were eligible for old age security benefits a one-time cheque for $300 and seniors who were eligible for the guaranteed income supplement, or GIS, an extra $200, for a scant total of $500. The special one-time payment through the GST credit came out to be an average of $375 for seniors living alone and $510 for couples, which is where we get the figure of almost $900 for a person living alone. However, seniors were not the only taxpayers who were able to benefit from this special payment. The Liberals added another one-time election-minded cheque for $500. I am not the one saying it. We heard that from a journalist who interviewed seniors. They are not fooled and they are tired of being used as pawns. The Liberals are demonstrating a real lack of compassion by not keeping their promises at a time when seniors continue to be hit hardest by the pandemic.
Some Liberal members have even personally accused me of fearmongering to scare seniors. In politics, people sometimes make petty, shameful accusations. It is very frustrating. This outrageous and unwarranted accusation made by some Liberal members is completely appalling. We are not trying to scare seniors. We are advocating for a real increase in their purchasing power. My Bloc Québécois colleagues and I are simply trying to give them a voice.
The real value of the old age security pension has been dropping for years. In 1975, it covered 20% of the average industrial wage. Today, it covers about 13%. We are asking the government to raise OAS coverage to 15% of the average industrial wage over three years and to keep it at that level.
It is not just Bloc members who are saying this. As I said, the FADOQ has denounced the fact that this measure is creating two classes of seniors and it reiterated that people aged 65 and older must be included.
The organization would have liked to see the Liberals at least honour their commitment to increase old age security now, rather than offering a one-time $500 cheque. The FADOQ applauds the Liberals' intention to help seniors financially, but it believes the government has discriminated against one class of seniors by increasing regular old age security payments by 10% in 2022 for those aged 75 and over, effectively creating two classes of seniors.
As for health transfers, something many seniors' groups talk to me about regularly, we get nothing but radio silence. There is nothing planned for the next five years and the government will not even talk about it, despite its unprecedented spending.
What we need to remember is not so much the size of the deficit, but rather the fact that the Liberals continue to invest everywhere but in health care and that they are failing our seniors. The government is sticking to the $4 billion already committed unilaterally and separately in Bill C-25, even though the deficit is lower than expected.
The deficit is around $354 billion, rather than $382 billion. That is a difference of $28 billion, which happens to be the exact amount of additional funding for health transfers that Quebec and the provinces are asking for this year. The quicker pace of economic recovery is creating the federal fiscal room to meet this demand. It is a political choice not to do so.
Meanwhile, Ottawa is investing $3 billion over five years in standards for long-term care facilities starting in 2022-23. This is definitely interference that Quebec opposes, and it serves no purpose since standards already exist. Instead of spending these billions of dollars on standards, it would be better to put them into health transfers in order to hire health care workers and comply with the existing standards.
In the middle of a pandemic, it is unthinkable to spend so much money without making a permanent increase to health transfers as Quebec and all the provinces are demanding. This is just a piecemeal approach consisting of small and even symbolic measures. Ottawa is saying yes to everything but health transfers, despite the consensus of all of Quebec and all the premiers.
The pandemic inflicted lasting wounds on our health care systems that will take years to heal, but the recovery will only happen if the federal government invests heavily in those systems.
By refusing to increase its health care contribution, the government is knowingly turning its back on patients and sending them the message that their health is not a priority, that their cancer diagnosis can wait, that their stress and anguish will not be relieved. The Bloc Québécois believes that is unacceptable, and that is why we are demanding increased health transfers now. We have to make up for time lost due to the pandemic and address the roots of this systemic issue.
Our under-resourced health care systems are being propped up by their overworked staff, yet the federal government is abandoning health care workers. The system was already stretched thin before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the added workload has serious consequences for Quebec's nurses and health care workers. For patients, this means lower-quality care and a greater risk of post-operative complications. Nurses are at risk of burnout and higher stress, and some want to leave the profession because the conditions are unacceptable.
Things have been getting worse for nurses since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. We are hearing more and more devastating stories from health care workers. Many health professionals had chosen to work part time to avoid being overworked, but they were unilaterally forced to work full-time hours to deal with this crisis. As a result, the health care system is struggling to retain nurses, who are quitting in droves in Montreal. More than 800 nurses have quit because of the overwhelming workload.
The provinces and Quebec are unanimous in their demand, which rarely happens. The decision is unanimous across Quebec and Canada. The premiers of all the provinces and Quebec, the major unions, the Quebec National Assembly and the Parliament of Canada, which passed a motion, all agree.
The Liberal government is alone in this. It needs to get with the program and increase health transfers. The government is also alone in its refusal to increase OAS as of age 65.
The Bloc Québécois moved two amendments to the budget in order to add our two main demands and give the government one last chance to listen to reason. In voting against our amendments, the Liberals have all but guaranteed that the Bloc will not support this budget.
In closing, I would like to say that the emergency wage subsidy was a good thing for my riding and that there are some good measures in the budget. There is money allocated for the environment, which we will have to keep an eye on because the devil is in the details. That is true for many measures, from agriculture to support for tourism and culture. Many groups, including seniors' groups, also support the Bloc's recommendations for this budget.
I will conclude by sharing what a young man wrote to me yesterday: “My name is Samuel. I would like to know how to present a petition to the House of Commons to pressure the Liberal government about the old age security cheque on behalf of my grandparents.”
Well, Samuel, out of respect for the dignity of seniors, let us take action so they can not just survive, but thrive.
