Campaigns & Issues

turn me on, I'm beautiful.

Stephen Harper's announcement to raise the age for Old Age Security (OAS) from age 65 to 67 is a giant step backwards.

The Conservative government never announced such a proposal during the May election. It is indeed revealing that Harper goes to Davos, Switzerland to tell Canadians about his plans to change the eligibility age for the OAS.

Harper used the European economic crisis as his backdrop in hopes that Canadians will be lured into thinking that our retirement savings programs are somehow a danger to the economy.

Don't be fooled.

Recent reports for the OAS and the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) tell us that these public programs are secure well into the future. The OAS is funded through Canadian tax dollars and covers almost every Canadian resident. The program has been extremely effective in reducing poverty among seniors from a shameful high of 18% in 1980 to the current level of 5%.

Hiking up the age for OAS from 65 to 67 will have the greatest hardship on seniors with low incomes or unable to work due to poor health or disability.

Harper is using scare tactics saying that the number Canadian seniors will double by 2030. While this is true, what he does not say is that the economy will also grow over the next 20 years and as a percentage of GDP, the OAS cost to Canadians will only increase from 2.4% to 3.2%. A modest price to pay to ensure dignity for seniors.

The CPP is funded with employer and employee contributions and publicly administered by the federal government. The recent actuarial valuation for the CPP also reports that the plan is securely funded well into the future.

Harper's vision for Canadians is a grim one. His government stands by, (or sometimes even colludes) as corporations cut our wages and pensions. His government does nothing to stop the slide toward precarious jobs. After working a lifetime in poorly paid jobs without a decent employer pension plan, Canadians, in Harper's vision, can just keep on working.

What can you do?

Tell your federal Member of Parliament that you do not support the hiking up the age for OAS from 65 to 67. And you support the expansion of the CPP/ QPP to provide a secure income for all Canadians.

About You:
(* indicates required information)

Last name: *

First name: *

Email: *

Phone number:

Address:

Address 2:

Province:

City/Town:

Postal Code: *

Privacy Policy: The contact information on this form or comments you make will be private and confidential and will not be passed on to any individual or organization other than representatives of this campaign. If you wish to give further support, please check the boxes below.

I give permission for this campaign to contact me on this issue.

I give permission for this campaign to disclose my comments on this issue to Canadian Members of Parliament.

The Message:

Dear Member of Parliament,

I was dismayed to hear comments by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Davos, Switzerland, suggesting that key elements of our retirement system could be under attack.

Later, once back in Canada, these comments were echoed by other cabinet ministers and the Prime Minister himself when he suggested the government could raise the age to receive Old Age Security (OAS) benefits from 65 to 67.

The OAS is meant to help seniors by supplementing the far too modest income provided by the Canada Pension Plan. The Prime Minister and the Conservative government are intentionally using the backdrop of the European economic crisis to breed fear into Canadians about the economy and the sustainability of our retirement security programs.

It is worth noting that over the years, the OAS program has been extremely effective in reducing poverty among seniors from a shameful high of 18 per cent in 1980 to the current level of five per cent.

At a time when a large segment of the population will be nearing retirement age, making drastic and unnecessary changes to our retirement system is reckless and ill-advised.

This change will not only impact seniors, who will be forced to work years longer, but also our country’s youth who now see few decent employment opportunities. This will only worsen as people delay retirement because of financial hardship. Assurances by the government that raising the age for OAS would have no impact on current retirees are misleading - this change would impact everyone – and immediately.

I urge you to reject the government’s plan to raise the age of eligibility for the OAS benefit as well as the idea of the Registered Pooled Pension Plan and instead support a gradual doubling of the CPP and QPP, which are sensible and affordable retirement security programs.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

This message will be emailed to:

Stephen Harper -Prime Minister of Canada
Jim Flaherty -Federal Finance Minister
Nycole Turmel -Leader of the Official Opposition