Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Calgary Shepard for his question.
He rightly mentioned that the population is aging, which would require an increase to health transfers, even during the pandemic. The pandemic has exacerbated the situation, but it did not create it. Regardless, the government should have increased these transfers because of the aging population and the increased costs associated with that.
In response to his question about seniors, I would say that the solution we would advocate for, do advocate for and will advocate for is a permanent increase to the GIS, as opposed to a single payment in the lead-up to a potential election. We are talking about a real, permanent increase.
Seniors are people over the age of 65, not 75. When I talk about increasing old age security I am talking about all seniors, no matter what age range they fit into.