Seniors

Seniors are being squeezed.

In walking door to door over the last two years, the one troubling thing I heard most often is how seniors are having a very hard time making ends meet.  People who worked all their lives and carefully planned for retirement are hit by rapidly rising property taxes and reduced assets in a sluggish economy.  It is heartbreaking for me to talk to widows who fear they may lose their small homes.

A lot of the pain is not due directly to federal policies.  Property taxes are determined by city budgets and subject to provincial rules.  Economic woes are global in scope.  Still, because seniors across Canada are hurting, we need to step up to the plate.  These are the people who raised us, fed us and made us who we are.  They deserve our best.

The Green Party would increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement to seniors as part of its tax shift.  We would move to protect pension benefits.  We would outreach to seniors to ensure they got all the help they were entitled to.  We would develop a National Home Care Policy.  We would allow more flexibility in retirement benefits for seniors who wish to keep working.

To see the full Green Party plan for seniors, go here.