Madam Speaker, I am pleased to take part in today's important discussion, since it has to do with our country's seniors.
However, while I have the floor of the House for a few minutes, I would like to point out that the NDP, like many tens of thousands of families in Quebec and Canada, is extremely concerned about the situation in Lebanon. My colleague from Edmonton Strathcona asked for and was granted an emergency debate in the House to discuss the alarming situation in Lebanon, particularly in the south, where there has been heavy bombardment in the last few days. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and forced to flee. Some days, there have been hundreds of civilian victims, among them many women and children. The situation is critical, and there is a risk of regional conflagration. The NDP will call on the federal government to do everything in its power to bring about a de-escalation and ceasefire, save human lives and put measures in place to bring Canadian citizens home from Lebanon. Canadians with families in Lebanon are extremely concerned about the fate of their loved ones and want them to be brought back to Canada for their safety. Incidentally, I spoke on the phone this morning with people from the Montreal area who are worried about their loved ones and are trying to get them home. The discussion or debate later today will be extremely important for us to find out the intentions of the Liberal government regarding the alarming situation in Lebanon for civilians, particularly in southern Lebanon.
The subject that we are discussing today as a result of an opposition day motion is important because it has to do with the plight of seniors across Quebec and Canada. I am pleased to speak to this subject, because this situation has been a cause for concern for years. The motion before us talks a lot about the discrimination that the Liberal government created between two classes of seniors, seniors aged 75 and up and those aged 65 to 74. This difference did not exist anywhere else before. However, in 2021, the government increased the old age security pension for people aged 75 and up. We applaud that measure. It was a good thing, given that many of our seniors are living, or trying to survive, in terrible poverty. We are not opposed to that increase, especially since I was horrified to learn that it was the first real increase in the OAS since 1973, the year that I was born. It has been a while. My beard has turned white. Apart from indexing adjustments to try to keep pace with inflation, no government had made any real increase to old age security for 50 years, so this extra help is very welcome. I even think that it shows respect for our seniors. However, what about seniors aged 65 to 74? Why has the Liberal government abandoned them?
There is no inherent logic to it, except perhaps a cost issue. If that is the case, then the Liberals need to say so. Is it just a matter of money, and is it just because they lack the courage to go get the money where it is in order to help our seniors living in poverty and to lift them out of it? The NDP will obviously support the motion before the House today, because we think that it is the right thing to do in the fight against poverty, in support of seniors and in a fairer and more equitable society. Then we can go back and talk about the way of going about it, which is something that we may have some doubts about. Seniors are being hit hard by the rising cost of living and rising rents. There are seniors who are underhoused, with some living in their cars, trucks or tractor-trailers because they can no longer afford housing and because there is no affordable housing left, due to the 1993-94 cuts that were never restored, and there is a lack of investment in community-based social housing and housing co-operatives. Housing is an issue that really hits home for many of our seniors, who are sometimes in practically unlivable apartments that are health hazards and can cause a whole bunch of other problems.
We often talk about the cost of groceries. The Liberals' total inaction on the cost of groceries is truly appalling. I remember quite well when the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry said that he was going to summon the CEOs of the major grocery chains to give them a piece of his mind. He wanted to ask them to do something, but they did nothing. In the end, nothing changed. Then, we found out that these CEOs had gone back to their offices, said they had a meeting with the minister, but that it was not going to change their pricing policies in the slightest. As a result, we saw the price of groceries skyrocket and seniors struggling to feed themselves properly.
In our work as MPs, we meet with many groups, community organizations and individual people. Some of these people are quite desperate and need help from all levels of government. One of the things my office does, and I believe other MPs do the same, is take part in tax clinics every year. In doing so, we really help the poorest of the poor. Along with other members of my team, I volunteer with Revenu Québec. When I sit down at a desk and look at the income of someone who receives only old age security and the guaranteed income supplement, I seriously wonder how that person manages to survive. No one can live on such a woefully inadequate amount. It is distressing that we are letting our seniors down and consigning them to poverty when there are simple, effective ways to make their lives better.
What I am pleased about is the fact that the work of the NDP caucus in recent years has helped seniors in a meaningful way. During the 2021 general election, we campaigned on the fact that a human being's health extends from head to toe, and that there is no reason why some parts of the body should be covered, but not others. We said that we would go to Ottawa, to Parliament, and fight for a dental care program. At first, everyone said that it would be impossible, that it would cost too much, and that the federal government would never agree to it. However, we came to this minority Parliament and used our leverage to force the Liberals to do something they had always refused to do. Before the 2021 election, they voted against dental care.
The Bloc Québécois also voted against dental care. As for the Conservative Party, there is no telling what they would do if unfortunately they were ever to come to power. They could do away with the program.
Our gamble paid off, and the program is a major win for seniors. Parliament decided to prioritize them. In all three phases of the dental care program, seniors were given priority, thanks to the NDP. Today, over 3.5 million people are enrolled in the program. According to the latest figures that I have seen, 645,000 people, the vast majority of them seniors, have benefited from the program. They have been to the dentist, and their treatment has been fully or partly covered. I spoke to one lady who received two sets of dentures free of charge. I spoke with another lady who saved $2,900 on her bill.
That is real. We kept our promise, and that is something that I am extremely proud of.
I am also proud of the fact that of the nearly 700,000 people who have been to the dentist, 205,000 are Quebeckers. In other words, 32% of the people who have benefited from the program are from Quebec. Quebec represents 23% of the population. I find it a bit odd to hear the Bloc Québécois criticize the dental care program when it is Quebeckers who are taking advantage of it the most out of all the provinces. I would like to make a small correction: when people say that Quebec already had a dental care program, that is not true, since it is a program only for children under 10. For older people, seniors, teenagers and adults, there was absolutely nothing. We wanted that to be done, we wanted to help people in a meaningful way. We are very proud of this.
There is also the framework for pharmacare. Too many seniors in this country are making agonizing choices between rent, food and drugs, which is having an impact on their health. People could have access to drugs and equipment for diabetes, for example. Millions of people are going to benefit. That is something meaningful that the NDP has offered to people. I could answer my colleagues' questions during the few minutes that are left.
