Response to MP pension levels
MPs COULD SHARE THEIR WEALTH WITH SENIOR CITIZENS Opinion by Joyce Walters, Moose Jaw Today, When I picked my career after high school, I didn’t know until much later that I had selected one of the lowest paying industries of any available. I was so excited to be hired at the newspaper and to receive $1.05 an hour before deductions that I didn’t see the need to check out other job opportunities. I can honestly say money wasn’t terribly high on my radar at the tender age of 18. My rent was paid on time, bills were paid, I bought groceries and often joined colleagues for a restaurant meal and…
Members of Parliament ensure inflated pension levels for themselves while ordinary Canadian seniors struggle
Taxpayers Federation releases pension and severance figures for 2021 federal election Author: Franco Terrazzano 2021/09/27 Federal News Release OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation released its calculations of estimated pension or severance payments paid to the 51 members of Parliament who were either defeated in the federal election or did not seek re-election. “Taxpayers shouldn’t feel too bad for the politicians who lost the election because they’ll be cashing big severance or pension cheques,” said Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director with the CTF. “Thanks to past pension reforms, taxpayers will not have to shoulder as much of the burden as they used to. But there’s more work to do to make politician pay affordable for taxpayers.”…
Response from the Ministry Office
RESPONSE FROM THE MINISTER’S OFFICEThe following is a response to a letter sent to the federal Ministry for Seniors: On behalf of the Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr., Minister of Labour and Seniors, I am responding to your email, which was forwarded by the office of the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, on February 14, 2024. You wrote about support for seniors. Canada’s public pensions, namely the Old Age Security (OAS) program and the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) assist in providing income security to seniors. OAS benefits are intended to provide partial income security for seniors in recognition of the contributions that they have made to…
‘Can’t afford to live’: Vernon senior helping to organize pension reform protest
Thompson Okanagan Info News Shannon Ainslie Vernon resident Carole Fawcett is a freelance writer and retired councillor behind the Seniors Tin Cup Movement. Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Seniors Tin Cup Movement February 10, 2024 – 6:00 PM A senior in Vernon is fed up with living on the financial brink trying to make ends meet on a fixed retirement income, and she’s not alone. Like so many seniors, Carole Fawcett can’t afford to go out much or buy anything. She doesn’t drive as often as she used to because she can’t afford the fuel and she has eliminated eating out with friends, among many other sacrifices. “You have to be very…
Guaranteed Income Supplements Need Adjustment to Liveable Income Levels
SubmittedMost seniors don’t need to watch the news to know that times are increasingly hard; they can see the evidence in their own lives. So perhaps it’s no surprise that older adults are leading the charge toward change. After her retirement at age 74, Vancouver resident Sharon Elliott had spinal surgery. In the days following, she quickly saw that help from the public purse was far from adequate to meet her needs. “I found that I was having to choose between health treatments and basics like food and housing.” Since then, Sharon has been actively working to persuade governments to make more resources available to older adults. Specifically, she says, Guaranteed Income…
CBC: Senior Housing Crisis
British Columbia In an RV outside a B.C. Walmart, a senior dreams of housing Nono Shen · The Canadian Press · Posted: Jan 27, 2024 4:06 PM PST | Last Updated: January 27 More seniors reporting having low incomes a ‘dramatic reversal’ from 3 decades ago, charity says. Keith Light, 77, says he spent New Year’s Eve trying to get the engine of his recreational vehicle — outside a Walmart in East Vancouver — running to stay warm, while trying to imagine better times ahead.“I just laid here and visualized B.C. Housing calling me and saying: ‘We have a place for you,'” said the former construction worker. He is among a large population of elderly people…
We are not ‘less than’ because we are seniors
Carole Fawcett “I watched my 84-year-old Aunts quick descent into poverty following her retirement. She worked all her life (usually two jobs) until she was 78 years old. Recently she required a hearing aid and also had to have some dental work done. She has to rely on her credit card in order to have these much-needed services, and then has the long process of paying that off. Even the most carefully thought out financial retirement plan can change very quickly because of unexpected life events.” “My 81-year-old Mom still works part time. She has to, to supplement her very low pension.” “It is an insult when, as a retiree,…
Government benefits need to be boosted to avoid senior poverty: Carole Fawcett
Martin Biefer, Senior Pension Writer, Avery & Kerr Communications For Carole Fawcett of Vernon, BC, it’s time for seniors across Canada to let governments of all stripes know that the current retirement benefits available to older Canadians aren’t sufficient – and many seniors are facing poverty in their golden years. Fawcett, a freelance writer and editor and a retired counsellor, spoke recently to Save with SPP by telephone and email. She agrees that government programs like the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, and the Guaranteed Income Supplement were, when first created, “expected to `supplement’ the pensions that people would get from their job when they retired.” “People used to…
Boomer Anger
© Carole Fawcett This Boomer is angry. I am 75 years old and my pension is less than someone who works 40 hours a week for the minimum wage and this is combined for both OAS and CPP (with the supplement). How disrespectful and minimizing is that? I’m tired of the tokenistic pat on the head with a pitiful pension. A lot of us fall into this category and it wasn’t because we planned badly, sometimes life gets in the way. Before I go further I want to say that a lot of Boomers (seniors) are in the same (or worse) position. But I’m kind of tired of it…
Global News Television, Carole’s Vernon protest:
A B.C. woman took to the streets of downtown Vernon Thursday to raise awareness about poverty among seniors. The writer and former counsellor says low income older adults are struggling to get by on government assistance. Experts say seniors are among those most impacted by inflation. Aaron McArthur reports. – Dec 28, 2023 ...
