CONSERVATIVES SHORT-CHANGING FOUR MILLION
SENIORS: NDP
TORONTO – NDP Leader Jack Layton and NDP Seniors and Pensions Critic Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain) will meet with representatives from retired police, firefighters and workers on Saturday to call on Harper’s Conservatives to give seniors the full payment of the income supports to which they are entitled. Layton and Charlton will also be joined by Bill Gleberzon, President of Canadian Association for the 50 plus (CARP).
“Canadian seniors have worked hard all their lives, they’ve played by the rules, and they have a right to expect that the government isn’t going to play keep-away with their benefit payments,” said Layton. “A mistake was made. The government must take full responsibility and return to seniors what is rightfully theirs.”
Last August, it was revealed that inflation numbers had been underrated by half a percentage point between 2001 and 2006. Consequently, Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement recipients have been underpaid by a compounded half of a percentage point a year.
"The amount of unpaid benefits could total over a billion dollars,” said Charlton. “The Minister of Human Resources and Development has admitted the error, but he refuses to do anything about it. That’s unacceptable.”
