2012.02.01

 

Union retirees condemn Harper attack on seniors

An organization representing more than half a million Canadian union retirees is accusing the Harper government of attacking seniors by proposing changes to Old Age Security benefits.

Pat Kerwin, president of the Congress of Union Retirees of Canada (CURC), said in a statement released Tuesday that moving the retirement age to 67 would just postpone poverty for many seniors.

"If the government wanted to ensure decent incomes for tomorrow's seniors, it should be advocating the improvement of both the Canada and Quebec Pension plans," Kerwin said.

CURC, with which the CWA Canada Retired Members Council is affiliated, also supports a 15-per-cent increase to the Guaranteed Income Supplement of the OAS pension to lift all seniors out of poverty immediately. A doubling of CPP and QPP over time would result in fewer seniors requiring GIS in the future.

"It is unfair to ask workers to delay retirement and, when they do retire, to be forced to live meagre lives in their golden years," said Kerwin.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper also showed disrespect for Canadians by announcing his government's intentions regarding the OAS at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, instead of at home. "If he wanted to bring forward such a change, it should have been proposed in an election campaign," Kerwin said.

The CURC president urged Canadians to reject Harper's proposed changes to OAS and fight for improvements for retirement security for all.