Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform you that I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Scarborough—Agincourt.
I am very pleased to participate in this debate, but I must admit that I am wondering why we are debating this motion tonight when we could quickly take action. If there is one time when members should be unanimous, it is this evening on this bill.
We are here to debate Bill C-12, an act to amend the Old Age Security Act to provide a guaranteed income supplement exemption. I would like to explain this to the Canadians who are watching at home. Usually when we study a bill, it involves a rather complex process. To make amendments to a law, often many changes are needed here and there. We must be certain of the changes to be made. In this case, it is very simple.
In the French version of the bill, only five lines were changed. Those five lines will change our tax system to eliminate a problem for seniors. All political parties in the House of Commons recognize that this problem must be fixed.
My wonderful colleague from northern Ontario just expressed his approval. Earlier today there were speeches by Bloc Québécois members who indicated their support. The NDP members have said they support it. I cannot figure out why we are still debating this motion. We may even end up straying from the topic because some of the parties like playing political games.
We really have to meet the needs of Canada's seniors. That is why I am urging my opposition party colleagues, especially the Conservative and Bloc Québécois members, to approve this. I hope that, once they have read these five lines, they will give their approval so we can get on with it.
We know how we got to this point. The pandemic hit. Unfortunately, some seniors who had been working part time or full time to earn extra money had to stop working. The pandemic caused problems for everyone in Canada. People lost their jobs overnight. Everyone did their part to stop the spread of the virus.
They had access to some substantial programs that we created to support Canadians and our businesses. They received money from the Canada emergency response benefit, or CERB.
As my colleagues know, our public pension benefits and the guaranteed income supplement are calculated every year based on income received the previous year. These people will unfortunately be affected by this change, but amendments will solve this problem.
I want to take a moment to explain exactly how it works. As many of my colleagues have already pointed out, these people will be penalized for this tax year, and we do not want that to happen, as we have heard from many people who have contacted our offices. We need to address this issue, and that is exactly what we are proposing to do.
That is why I think it is important for us to take swift action, and that is what I am prepared to do. It is almost 7:40 p.m. eastern time. If everyone were to agree right now that no one else will speak to this bill, we could proceed directly to the vote. That would be a good thing for Canadians and would reassure them that we are finally going to fix this issue. The bill is a short one, with just five lines.
That is why I think we need to take action, and I hope to convince my colleagues to join me.
I want to be clear and remind everyone what Bill C‑12 will do. The bill will prevent the guaranteed income supplement and allowances from being reduced come July. That is it. This bill will stop a problem from happening. We all agree that pandemic-related benefits should not be considered income for the purposes of calculating the guaranteed income supplement. If we all agree, that is what Bill C‑12, a bill that is five lines long, will do. It is short, simple and clear. Let us get moving.
We are moving quickly because we know that these supports need to be put into place quickly. As I have already mentioned, the system changes that are needed would be put into place by our incredible public servants, who are going to make sure that this happens in time.
Seniors who have had to access these benefits to make ends meet during a public health crisis might be penalized because their Conservative and Bloc representatives are incapable of setting partisanship aside and are trying to thwart the process. That would be unfair.
Once again, this should not surprise my colleagues. Unfortunately, the Conservatives have shown every step of the way that they are not there for Canadians, despite what the member who rose before me said:
“We have your backs.”
That is something the Prime Minister often says. If the Conservatives want to borrow our words, I encourage them to also get on board with how quickly we want to take action.
On behalf of seniors, I hope my Conservative and Bloc Québécois friends will join us in supporting this motion without amendment, so we can deliver for seniors who need this support, seniors who have given so much throughout their lives.
I know my colleagues support seniors. I encourage them to join us in getting this bill passed quickly so we can be there for Canadians.