North Island – Powell River MP Rachel Blaney has sent a letter to Seamus O’Regan, recently appointed minister of seniors and labour, pushing him to take steps to ensure seniors in Canada have the financial support they need to meet their cost of living.
According to a media release, in her letter, Blaney notes that there are more seniors living in Canada than ever before, but Canada’s public services and institutions are not prepared to meet their needs.
“Far too many seniors are living in poverty and are at risk of becoming unhoused or are already experiencing homelessness, the federal government is clawing back their benefits, or they are forced to make the difficult choice between buying their medication and buying food,” wrote Blaney in her letter to the minister.
She urges O’Regan to take steps now to ensure all seniors in Canada have a safe, accessible, and affordable place to live. Blaney has requested that: the government retroactively apply the 10 per cent increase to old age security for all seniors; create a guaranteed livable basic income; address the taxation imbalance for single seniors who rent; amend the Old Age Security Act so seniors are not at risk of losing their guaranteed income supplement because of daunting paperwork.
“The issues I’ve outlined are not difficult to fix, but your government so far has refused to do so,” wrote Blaney. “My New Democrat colleagues and I will be pressing you to do better.”
