Lauzon: Proud to be Honoring Canada’s Seniors

November 19, 2007

Canadian pensioners and seniors have spent a lifetime building our great country. With selfless determination and dedication they established careers, raised families and paid their taxes. Now that their careers are behind them, they deserve to enjoy a long and healthy retirement. However, as the cost of living has gone up, with increases in everything from medicine to gasoline, the financial burden on many seniors is becoming more evident.

To dither on this issue, as the previous Liberal government did, is frankly, unacceptable. Canada’s seniors built this country, making it the great place it is today, and for that, my gratitude to them is beyond words. Our seniors have earned the right to live out their retirement comfortably.

Assisting our seniors has been, and will continue to be, a priority for this Government. In fact, nearly a year ago, we established a Ministry, headed by Marjory LeBreton, the sole focus of which is addressing issues pertaining to seniors.

Some of our accomplishments in this portfolio include enacting a law that allows Canadian seniors to split pension incomes between spouses or common-law partners. This is a first for Canada, but it is a policy that is long overdue and will greatly benefit seniors. For a couple with one partner collecting a $40,000 pension, the savings after splitting would be approximately $2,500. This is money that will go directly back into the pockets of pensioners and seniors.

In addition to pension income splitting, this Government enacted a broad-based senior income tax cut by increasing the Age Credit Amount by $1,000 from $4,066 to $5,066. This measure provides relief to low and middle-income seniors in particular.

We also reduced the GST from 7% to 5%; introduced a transit pass credit; doubled the pension income credit to $2,000, which will put almost $900 million back in the hands of seniors over the next two years and removes 85,000 pensioners from the tax rolls; increased the maximum Guaranteed Income Supplement benefit, which will assist more than 50,000 seniors and expanded the Compassionate Care Benefit to make more Canadians eligible

Finally, this Government enacted the New Horizons for Seniors program, a multi-million dollar initiative that helps to encourage seniors across Canada to contribute to their communities and improve their social well-being by helping those in need, providing leadership, and sharing their knowledge and skills with others.

Canada is indebted to its seniors. Throughout their lives, they worked tirelessly to mould this country into the great place it has surely become. We owe it to them to ensure they live out there retirement fairly and with dignity. The actions by this Government have been, and will continue to be, guided by its profound respect for seniors and their service to Canada. Thank you.