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Media Release: NDP will table motion to raise Old Age Security payments for all seniors

OTTAWA – On Wednesday, NDP critic for Seniors Rachel Blaney (North Island—Powell River) will call on all members of parliament to support seniors by increasing Old Age Security (OAS) payments in the wake of the affordability crisis. But, instead of supporting some of Canada’s most vulnerable, the Liberals and Conservatives have teamed up to deny people the help they need.
“With the rising costs of groceries and mortgages and sky-high inflation rates, people are having an extremely difficult time keeping up. And seniors are some of the most impacted by how expensive everything has become, especially women,” said Blaney. “It’s really discouraging for a lot of people to see how the Liberals and Conservatives abandon people once they retire.”
Last summer, seniors 75 and older received a ten per cent increase to their OAS payments – but those under 75 haven’t received an extra cent. Blaney’s motion would have ensured that all seniors would receive the increase, rather than going forward with the Liberals two-tiered system that leaves out more than two million people.

February 1st, 2023

NDP will table motion to raise Old Age Security payments for all seniors

OTTAWA – On Wednesday, NDP critic for Seniors Rachel Blaney (North Island—Powell River) will call on all members of parliament to support seniors by increasing Old Age Security (OAS) payments in the wake of the affordability crisis. But, instead of supporting some of Canada’s most vulnerable, the Liberals and Conservatives have teamed up to deny people the help they need.

“With the rising costs of groceries and mortgages and sky-high inflation rates, people are having an extremely difficult time keeping up. And seniors are some of the most impacted by how expensive everything has become, especially women,” said Blaney. “It’s really discouraging for a lot of people to see how the Liberals and Conservatives abandon people once they retire.”

Last summer, seniors 75 and older received a ten per cent increase to their OAS payments – but those under 75 haven’t received an extra cent. Blaney’s motion would have ensured that all seniors would receive the increase, rather than going forward with the Liberals two-tiered system that leaves out more than two million people.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, as prices started to rise, New Democrats have been calling for an increase OAS for all seniors. But the Liberals have refused.

“No Canadian should live below the bar of dignity, especially when they retire. You shouldn’t have to worry about if you can afford medications or fill your cupboards once you retire,” added Blaney. “But the Liberals and Conservatives prefer to penny pinch on the backs of people who need help the most. The Liberals are leaving retirees to fend for themselves, and Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives not only don’t want to get seniors more support, but they say they plan to cut all Canadians’ pensions.

“All seniors face higher grocery costs, not just those 75 and older, but the Liberals are supporting a two-tiered system. New Democrats will keep fighting to make sure all seniors are treated with respect and to end this absurd system by getting an OAS increase for all seniors.”

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Hill Times: ‘Structural solutions not inflammatory conclusions’ required to fix foreign worker program: Senator Omidvar

Hill Times: ‘Structural solutions not inflammatory conclusions’ required to fix foreign worker program: Senator Omidvar

NDP MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.), her party’s immigration critic, said the UN report should come as no surprise to the government, as it echoes “what migrant workers and labour advocates have been saying for a very long time.”


NDP MP Jenny Kwan says the power imbalance that leads to abuse is structural to the temporary foreign worker program, not just its low-wage stream. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
“The way the program is set up exposes workers to exploitation and abuse because they’re reliant on their employer to retain their status in Canada,” Kwan explained. “If they face abuse and exploitation and complain about it, they stand to lose their job, and—in the worst-case scenario—they stand to be deported back to their country of origin.”

Kwan said the government has taken a “haphazard approach” to addressing problems with the TFWP to date, focused almost solely on the low-wage stream, but—while misuse of that stream is “particularly deplorable”—she said the root of the problem is structural to the entire program.

“The government has to address the main structural issue, and that is the power imbalance that exists between the temporary foreign worker and the employer,” Kwan said. “The only way to do that is to ensure that the temporary foreign workers actually have landed status on arrival, then they are not dependent on the employer, and would not have to suffer potential abuses and exploitation.”

“It doesn’t matter what stream it is, all the temporary foreign workers programs subject migrant workers to potential exploitation because of that power imbalance,” Kwan said, adding, though, that the NDP supports calls to end the program’s low-wage stream.

While the government and groups like the Canadian Chamber of Commerce may reject the UN rapporteur’s characterization of the program, the recent Senate report found similar abuses within the program.

CBC: 'Disgusted' immigration minister looking into revoking citizenship of Toronto terror suspect

CBC: 'Disgusted' immigration minister looking into revoking citizenship of Toronto terror suspect

 

"People are rightfully furious and deeply concerned to learn that a man allegedly linked to a terrorist group and heinous terrorist acts was given Canadian citizenship by the Liberal government," she said in a statement.

"This alarming failure only adds to the concerns that Canadians already have about Canada's public safety and immigration system."

On Tuesday, a parliamentary committee agreed to investigate the case amid questions about the immigration screening process for both men.

The committee hearings, set to begin later this month, will likely zero in on Canada's immigration process, its security screening capacity and how security officials handle domestic threats.

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