What would your party do to ensure Canada’s seniors are able to live comfortably in their retirement?
A Liberal government will reverse Conservative cuts and provide Canadians with a more secure retirement. We will restore the eligibility age for Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement to 65, putting an average of $13,000 annually into the pockets of the lowest income Canadians as they become seniors.We will: increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement for single, lower income seniors by ten per cent, providing up to an $920 more to Canada’s 1.25 million lowest income seniors, including 900,000 single women.OAS and GIS will be indexed to a new, more accurate, and more generous Seniors Price Index of goods most commonly purchased by seniors. In periods when the Consumer Price Index grows faster than the Seniors Price Index, the traditional Consumer Price Index will be used. We will continue to allow income splitting for seniors. We will work with the provinces and territories, workers, employers and retiree organizations to enhance the Canada Pension Plan and make it more generous at lower cost.
Liberals support voluntary deferral of CPP and OAS pensions until age 70 in return for higher pensions. We also support raising the age for mandatory withdrawal from RRSPs.
How would your party address the need to strengthen Canada’s infrastructure and what project would you say is the highest priority for your riding?
A Liberal government will make the largest new infrastructure investment in Canadian history. We will: nearly double federal infrastructure investment to almost $125 billion over the next decade, as described at realchange.ca; provide new, dedicated funding to provinces, territories, and municipalities for public transit infrastructure, social infrastructure and green infrastructure; help fund public infrastructure projects by creating a new Canada Infrastructure Bank; and invest $100 million more annually to support the development of clean technology, as well as $200 million each year to support innovation and clean technologies in forestry, fisheries, energy and agriculture.