Excellent points. As a senior with the advantage of mortgage and rent free accommodation, I support the redistribution of benefits to pull people out of poverty whatever the age group.
Thank you for such a clear explanation of seniors' benefits and the stats.
How to target any benefits to the most needy, which is the most fiscally responsible and effective, without suffering politically for non-universal programs?
The Liberals must do a better job of communicating the tradeoffs and connecting the dots. I.e, we will allocate resources more fairly across age groups.
Thankyou for championing generational fairness. Most people have no idea about the huge imbalance in government spending that prioritizes the needs of seniors over the needs of everyone else. Thankyou for linking to Paul Kershaw at Generation Squeeze. He has run the math on several scenarios and there are definitely ways to target government funds to support those seniors who really need help and are in fact living in poverty. I just simply cannot believe we are all just sitting back allowing seniors who make $140,000 of income every year to collect some OAS money, which is NOT a prepaid benefit like CPP or EI. We're even ok with someone who makes $90,000/year collecting the FULL OAS payment. Meanwhile, there are seniors out there who are choosing to only take their medication every other day, instead of the daily dose because they are trying to make it stretch as far as possible. There are single parent families asking friends/neighbours for a ride to the food bank so that they can save bus fare. Children being denied sports activities and music lessons because parents can't afford it. And then there are rich people getting OAS payments and even carbon tax payments that they don't even notice in their bank accounts because those payments make no noticable differene to their quality of life. But those people vote more so than the young Canadians in their 20s and 30s so the government will continue to write cheques and pretend they are "helping the poor seniors". It's all madness.
I belong to an organization called Seniors for Tax Fairness. We are single, never married seniors who receive less than married seniors, even though our expenses based on only a single income are relatively high\.I think that all tax or OAS calculations should be based on each individual's income, married or not.
I agree with your suggestion that seniors’ aid be targeted to lower income seniors, rather than broadly enriching seniors who don’t need it. Unfortunately your own Liberal government has not offered this. The Green Party of Canada is the only party with a progressive guaranteed income plan. I reiterate that you are misplaced, and your energies cast on barren ground, in the Liberal Party. It is, at it’s core, a neo-liberal regime taking it’s instructions from the mercenary cult of corporate executives and their indoctrinated economists — who will never act on your values, but will use you happily as their “progressive” beard.
As a pensioner aged 82, I agree with you Nate, and I do not need an increase to my OAS. This pension should be targeted towards those truly in need by increasing GIS.
A Liberal MP yesterday disrupted a hearing of the Commons public accounts committee with a profane rant against Conservative members. “F—k right off,” said MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Beaches-East York, Ont.): "Come on. Come on. Come on."
Im a single senior who rents + lives in poverty now that Ive finally retired @ 69. A loss of $1,000/month in income means a constant struggle to survive + pay the bills.
Any senior who gets $150,000/yr should not be draining the OAS system, nor should any couples.
The govt gives out climate/gst rebates x4/yr. Being on GIS, in July youre reassessed + any monies over a certain amt are clawed back. They clawed back $4.55 from me this Aug. Now this is really sad, bc thats a loaf of bread for me. Clawbacks are cruel, especially when govt has given that $ to you in rebates. Its a poverty cycle.
The discrimination against seniors aged 65-74 re increasd 10% OAS for 75+ seniors is an egregius abuse + needs rectifying asap. There is no "fairness" in that.
There are seniors who could really use that "extra" $100.00.
Raising taxes on billionaires (eg. David Thomson, Galen Weston) would certainly benefit many programs for the vulnerable + they wouldnt even miss it.
Stop propping up your corrupt liberal party, any one paying a passing amount of attention to your governments continuing corruption and scandals is already truly ready vote your party to the dustbin of history
Thank you. I don't understand the senior programs because I don't qualify yet. This is a great explainer. So unfair and ridiculous NDP supported changes
Excellent points. As a senior with the advantage of mortgage and rent free accommodation, I support the redistribution of benefits to pull people out of poverty whatever the age group.
Increasing the GIS seems much more appropriate, targeting those seniors who really need the money
Thank you for such a clear explanation of seniors' benefits and the stats.
How to target any benefits to the most needy, which is the most fiscally responsible and effective, without suffering politically for non-universal programs?
The Liberals must do a better job of communicating the tradeoffs and connecting the dots. I.e, we will allocate resources more fairly across age groups.
Spell it out, like you just did.
Thankyou for championing generational fairness. Most people have no idea about the huge imbalance in government spending that prioritizes the needs of seniors over the needs of everyone else. Thankyou for linking to Paul Kershaw at Generation Squeeze. He has run the math on several scenarios and there are definitely ways to target government funds to support those seniors who really need help and are in fact living in poverty. I just simply cannot believe we are all just sitting back allowing seniors who make $140,000 of income every year to collect some OAS money, which is NOT a prepaid benefit like CPP or EI. We're even ok with someone who makes $90,000/year collecting the FULL OAS payment. Meanwhile, there are seniors out there who are choosing to only take their medication every other day, instead of the daily dose because they are trying to make it stretch as far as possible. There are single parent families asking friends/neighbours for a ride to the food bank so that they can save bus fare. Children being denied sports activities and music lessons because parents can't afford it. And then there are rich people getting OAS payments and even carbon tax payments that they don't even notice in their bank accounts because those payments make no noticable differene to their quality of life. But those people vote more so than the young Canadians in their 20s and 30s so the government will continue to write cheques and pretend they are "helping the poor seniors". It's all madness.
I belong to an organization called Seniors for Tax Fairness. We are single, never married seniors who receive less than married seniors, even though our expenses based on only a single income are relatively high\.I think that all tax or OAS calculations should be based on each individual's income, married or not.
I agree with your suggestion that seniors’ aid be targeted to lower income seniors, rather than broadly enriching seniors who don’t need it. Unfortunately your own Liberal government has not offered this. The Green Party of Canada is the only party with a progressive guaranteed income plan. I reiterate that you are misplaced, and your energies cast on barren ground, in the Liberal Party. It is, at it’s core, a neo-liberal regime taking it’s instructions from the mercenary cult of corporate executives and their indoctrinated economists — who will never act on your values, but will use you happily as their “progressive” beard.
As a pensioner aged 82, I agree with you Nate, and I do not need an increase to my OAS. This pension should be targeted towards those truly in need by increasing GIS.
Nate running interference on Trudeau’s corruption
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMhy9nqrh/
Nate running interference on Trudeau’s corruption
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMhy9nqrh/
Laughed out loud!!🤣🤣
“Profane Rant Halts Hearing
A Liberal MP yesterday disrupted a hearing of the Commons public accounts committee with a profane rant against Conservative members. “F—k right off,” said MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Beaches-East York, Ont.): "Come on. Come on. Come on."
http://www.blacklocks.ca/?email_id=15344&user_id=3373&urlpassed=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ibGFja2xvY2tzLmNhL3Byb2ZhbmUtcmFudC1oYWx0cy1oZWFyaW5nLw&controller=stats&action=analyse&wysija-page=1&wysijap=subscriptions
Im a single senior who rents + lives in poverty now that Ive finally retired @ 69. A loss of $1,000/month in income means a constant struggle to survive + pay the bills.
Any senior who gets $150,000/yr should not be draining the OAS system, nor should any couples.
The govt gives out climate/gst rebates x4/yr. Being on GIS, in July youre reassessed + any monies over a certain amt are clawed back. They clawed back $4.55 from me this Aug. Now this is really sad, bc thats a loaf of bread for me. Clawbacks are cruel, especially when govt has given that $ to you in rebates. Its a poverty cycle.
The discrimination against seniors aged 65-74 re increasd 10% OAS for 75+ seniors is an egregius abuse + needs rectifying asap. There is no "fairness" in that.
There are seniors who could really use that "extra" $100.00.
Raising taxes on billionaires (eg. David Thomson, Galen Weston) would certainly benefit many programs for the vulnerable + they wouldnt even miss it.
Stop propping up your corrupt liberal party, any one paying a passing amount of attention to your governments continuing corruption and scandals is already truly ready vote your party to the dustbin of history
Thank you. I don't understand the senior programs because I don't qualify yet. This is a great explainer. So unfair and ridiculous NDP supported changes