Help for Local Seniors the call from NDP and Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Bachrach

Skeena-BV MP
Taylor Bachrach

The NDP is raising an alarm over how Federal Pandemic supports over the last two years have had an impact on the long in place financial supports that Senior Citizens have used in the past towards their retirement.

With such instruments as the Guaranteed Income Supplement cut, or clawed back, owing to the introduction of pandemic programs such as CERB. 

The shift one which has come as a shock to Seniors who may have only recently learned of the cuts to their normal supplement to their day to day expenses.

Earlier this week the NDP addressed a letter to the Federal Ministers involved with programs for Seniors to take action to address the situation, the correspondence coming from Manitoba MP Daniel Blake and BC MP Rachel Blaney.

The document taking the Federal Liberals to task for ignoring they issue, which has seen the government choose to count emergency pandemic income in the calculation of eligibility for the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

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Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach has also spoken to the issue calling on the government to 'fix this mess" to provide some reassurance for Seniors.

“No one deserves to be cut off from their benefits after following the government’s instructions. GIS helps keep low-income seniors afloat. New Democrats will never stop fighting for people who need help, and that’s exactly what we're going to do. The government needs to do the right thing and fix this mess they’ve created.”

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also took on the Liberals over the impact of the Liberal program, noting how the government had abandoned Seniors while calling an early election towards their own political gain.

“Seniors have had to endure a lot during this pandemic, whether it’s been poor living conditions in long-term care homes or being more vulnerable to COVID-19. Now, some of Canada’s most vulnerable low-income seniors have lost the GIS help they relied on simply for following the government’s advice. The Liberal government can’t abandon our seniors like this. We’re urging Justin Trudeau to act immediately and ensure Canadian seniors have the help they need."

The full statement from the NDP on the issue can be reviewed here.

The Federal Government will have a few weeks to try to address the situation before they have to face the heat of a Question period interrogation, Parliament does not return to business until November 22nd.

More notes on the House of Commons can be explored here.