Conservative leader Stephen Harper made his second campaign stop on the North Vancouver side of the new Burnaby North –Seymour riding Tuesday, this time targeting seniors’ votes.
Harper promised, if re-elected, his government would create a tax credit shielding the first $2,000 of private pensions from income tax for seniors getting by on a single income.
Harper made the announcement to a crowd made up mostly of seniors gathered at the Canlan Ice Sports arena.
“The tax credit will extend additional tax relief to nearly 1.6 million single and widowed seniors in Canada and, in combination with the existing pension income credits, it means a single senior will receive additional tax relief of up to $600 annually. This is important, friends, and it is an affordable commitment. It helps the seniors who need it most,” Harper said.
The Conservatives say the plan will take four years to set up and cost $395 million per year when fully implemented.
“The Liberals and the NDP want tax hikes to fund your retirement. We want tax breaks to fund your retirement,” Harper said.
Liberal candidate in the riding Terry Beech characterized the tax credit plan as a “drop in the bucket,” compared to what seniors in poverty need.
“It’s a few hundred dollars if they apply for the credit. I think the Liberal plan is much better — restoring OAS and GIS to 65 years of age. That will put $13,000 into the pockets of most low-income seniors,” he said.
The Liberals are also promising to increase the guaranteed income supplement by 10 per cent.
“Instead of having to apply for it like under the Conservative plan, you automatically qualify for it and it puts $920 per year into the hands of our lowest income seniors,” Beech said.
“That would reach 1.25 million seniors, 900,000 of which would be single women…I think it’s an issue that’s definitely worth addressing since because one in four single seniors lives in low income.”
The NDP too is promising to bring the pension eligibility age back to 65, according to NDP candidate Carol Baird Ellan.
“We know that Harper’s plan has not been working. He promised not to interfere with pensions and yet he raised the eligibility age from 65 to 67 shortly after taking office,” she said. “We’ve got 200,000 seniors living in poverty.”
Within the first six months of taking office an NDP government would meet with Canada’s premiers to discuss enhancements to the Canada Pension Plan and Quebec Pension Plan.
“These are tried and tested means of saving for seniors. We know that a third of the population don’t have pension plans or don’t have proper plans for saving and we need to deal with that in a tried and tested way,” she said
Green Party candidate Lynne Quarmby said the tax credit plan doesn’t offer enough relief for low-income seniors.
“It doesn’t nearly go far enough to help seniors who are facing poverty, which unfortunately, is more and more,” she said.
Under the Greens’ plan, seniors would be covered by a guaranteed livable income, which would be indexed to the cost of living.
“It’s been done in other jurisdictions very successfully. That goes much farther in addressing the real poverty that many seniors face,” she said
Seniors would also benefit from a national pharmacare program and a national affordable housing program the Greens have included in their platform, Quarmby said.
