$500 payment during election 'shocking,' senior says
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“Outraged!”
Eighty-nine-year-old Dorothy Williams says she could barely believe it when a $500 federal payment arrived in her bank account.
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The Justin Trudeau government began sending out one-time Old Age Security (OAS) bump ups at just about the same time it called a federal election.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was so outraged,” Williams told the Toronto Sun Thursday. “Does he think that people over the age of 75 don’t recognize that it’s a payout for our vote?”
On Aug. 13 — just two days before the Prime Minister called an early election — the federal Ministry of Employment and Social Development Canada posted a news release confirming seniors born on or before June 30, 1947, would receive a one-time payment of $500 in the upcoming week without applying for it.
Although the measure was announced in the April budget, the money didn’t arrive until mid-August.
Alex Deslongchamps, a spokesperson for the Liberal Party of Canada, said they’ve improved the lives of seniors by restoring the age of OAS eligibility to 65 years after the Conservatives increased it to 67, strengthening the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) for future retirees and increasing the Guaranteed Income Supplement for individual seniors.
“All seniors deserve a safe and dignified retirement. The Liberal Party has taken strong steps to make this a reality,” Deslongchamps said in a statement when asked about the timing of the payment. “We know that older seniors have different needs and are more at risk of outliving their savings. As seniors age, their health and home care costs rise, all while they are more likely to be unable to work, have disabilities or be widowed.
“The Pandemic has made things even more difficult for seniors, with extra costs for things like accessing groceries and getting the medications they need – that’s why we will permanently increase the Old Age Security pension by 10% for seniors aged 75-plus, providing $766 over the first year to pensioners receiving the full benefit.”
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Deslongchamps said the $500 payment was the first permanent increase to OAS since 1973 other than adjustments for inflation.
Williams, a widow who lives in Calgary but is currently visiting with her daughter and grandchildren in Scarborough, said many of her friends from her years living in Burlington were off to the cottage and barely noticed the money arrive.
Many people receiving the funds don’t need it, and it comes at a time when the government is “broke,” she said.
“It is a buy for votes, that’s all it is,” she said. “I’m so outraged (they) think that once we’ve passed 75 that we’ve lost all sense of reasoning and (are) just ready to grab any money that comes our way … The shocking thing is I haven’t seen anybody making any noise about it.”
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