Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to be able to address the House on such an important issue: our seniors. There are a couple of thoughts that come to mind right away.
Having listened to the leader of the Bloc Party, I would encourage him and his caucus to take a look at some of the policy positions they have taken on programs that are having a positive impact on seniors in every region of the country. We saw it in the form of a question in regard to the dental program, as an example, where there are tens of thousands of seniors who have directly benefited by the program, including in the province of Quebec. Let us think also of the potential of a national pharmacare program. It is something I have been a long-time advocate for. One of the biggest benefactors is our seniors.
These are initiatives the Government of Canada has taken because it is supporting Canadians in every region through providing good-quality, socially progressive programs. The programs are of great benefit to our seniors. Unfortunately the Bloc has made the decision to vote against the programs.
It was interesting that the leader of the Bloc said that he has an agenda or a plan for whenever the election happens. I suggest the leader of the Bloc Party revisit the party's position on these social programs. The federal government does have a role to play; we have seen that in the past. Where did the old age supplement and the guaranteed income supplement come from? What about the CPP and its parallel in the province of Quebec?
The government, since the Prime Minister took the reins and put together a cabinet with a solid caucus, brought forward programs and initiatives through the budget to really enhance life for our seniors, to be there at a time in which people are retiring, in which there are medical costs and the ability to work is somewhat more limited. This includes the age 75-plus 10% increase on OAS.
The programs and initiatives are not just driven by the Liberal caucus or the Prime Minister. They are the types of issues on which all of us have received a great deal of feedback in our constituencies and have brought here to the House of Commons.
I will be splitting my time.
I want to look at some of the initiatives the government took in 2015-16. One of the very first was the dramatic increase to the guaranteed income supplement. That particular initiative lifted literally thousands of Canadian seniors, the poorest of them, out of poverty. Opposition members did not support it.
We can look from the very beginning to today at the types of things the Liberals have done. Let us think in terms of the pandemic. Stating the obvious, during the pandemic, we gave one-time payments to people receiving OAS and even more, in terms of the size of the payment, to people who were receiving the GIS. Even more than that, we enhanced many of the services that seniors receive through non-profit organizations, again as a way to support our seniors. The party, generally speaking, has been exceptionally forward-thinking in dealing with the seniors of Canada.
People ask why we would do it for those aged 75 and above. A few things instantly come to mind.
It was an election platform issue. The Liberal Party of Canada, in an election, said that if we were elected into government, we would increase the OAS by 10% for those seniors aged 75 and above. We fulfilled that election platform commitment. That is a positive thing.
People ask why we would only do it for those aged 75 plus. Many discussions took place at the grassroots and constituency levels. If we look at the needs of seniors, we find that, as we age and get to 75 plus, our retirement funds, our mobility and our ability to supplement our income are not as great. These are the types of reasons that drove the policy decision that we needed to ensure that those aged 75 plus would in fact receive more money. It was exceptionally well-received.
What about the individuals facing retirement? I sat in opposition when Stephen Harper, as the then prime minister, did absolutely nothing for those individuals. In fact, one of his initiatives, when he was in Davos, was to increase the age of retirement from 65 to 67. One of the first actions we took back in 2015-16 was to reverse that decision, returning the age of retirement to 65 from 67. That was something we did virtually immediately.
If we look at the importance of seniors and the issues they are facing, such as health care, they are very concerned. If we look at what is happening in provinces today on issues such as hip and knee replacements, there is a litany of different aspects of health care that are so critically important to seniors. No government and no prime minister has made more of a commitment toward a national health care system than the current Prime Minister and government have, with $198 billion over 10 years. That is not to mention the emphasis we have put on things such as long-term care, hospice care, mental health and the need for pharmacare; we now have legislation for pharmacare.
This caucus does not need to be lectured about caring for seniors. We have been caring for our seniors from day one, and we will continue to care for our seniors well into the future. If we look at the many budgetary and legislative measures that we have taken as a government, they clearly demonstrate that our government supports our seniors.
We are not alone. There are many other non-profit organizations out there that do fantastic work. For example, I think of the New Horizons for Seniors program, which is throughout all the different communities, as well as the volunteer organizations ensuring that there are all forms of activities for our seniors. The provinces, municipalities and indigenous leaders all play a very important role in being there for our seniors.
As a national government, we stepped up to the plate to demonstrate strong leadership with respect to our seniors. I can assure every Canadian who is following this debate, or anyone who is interested, that the current government and Prime Minister are committed to being there for our seniors, as we have been from day one and will be today and tomorrow.