| Historical Information |
|---|
| This post is about a previous Session of Parliament. Any legislation here that did not receive Royal Assent has been terminated. |
C-319 – An Act to amend the Old Age Security Act (amount of full pension) – increases the amount that is paid out from the Old Age Security pension.
Old Age Security Act
Two changes are made to the Old Age Security Act. The first is simple enough, it increases the amount pensioners are entitled to by 10%.
The second change increases the exemption for a person’s employment income when determining the guaranteed income supplement from $5,000 to $6,500.
Progress
On Oct 18, 2023 C-319 went up for its Second Reading vote and passed.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 0 | 154 | 2 |
| Conservative | 115 | 0 | 1 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 30 | 0 | 1 |
| NDP | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| Green | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Independent | 2 | 1 | 0 |
The Liberals voted against this for… reasons. They spent a lot of time talking about what they’ve already done for seniors, including lowering the retirement age back down from 67 to 65 and increasing the guaranteed income supplement by almost $1,000/year. They then went on to declare that everyone needs to work together and that the Conservatives and Bloc voted against both of those measures. Worth noting both of those happened in a Budget Bill, so there’s plenty of other reasons they may have voted against it.
The Conservatives voted in favour of it because they feel seniors need more money to help with the cost of living, which they promptly blamed on government spending. Bit of an interesting position to take that the government needs to spend more money to offset the fact that it’s spending more money, but there you go.
The NDP voted in favour of it again because the cost of living continues to go up, and argues that it isn’t enough. They then go on to argue about the Conservatives trying to pick apart the CPP, the Bloc fighting against a plan for dental care for seniors, and the Liberals failing to do anything about the housing crisis.
C-319 came back unchanged from its committee review, but as far as I can see still hasn’t received its Royal Recommendation. It will be going up for its Third Reading vote soon, so if you want to see it pass contact your MP as well as Jenna Sudds (Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development), Randy Boissonnault (Minister of Employment, Workforce Development, and Official Languages), and of course Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister). (I’ve listed two Ministers here as the Old Age Security Act mentions the Minister of a department that doesn’t exist anymore. The duties were split between these two, and I’m not sure exactly who would be responsible for this one, so here’s both for good measure)
Yves-François Blanchet (Bloc Québécois Leader, Quebec, Beloeil—Chambly) proposed a Motion that the Liberals give C-319 a Royal Recommendation. It passed with most of the Liberals being the only ones opposed to it.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 5 | 142 | 0 |
| Conservative | 117 | 0 | 0 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| NDP | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| Green | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Independent | 3 | 1 | 0 |
Worth noting that René Arseneault (Liberal, New Brunswick, Madawaska—Restigouche), Serge Cormier (Liberal, New Brunswick, Acadie—Bathurst), Mike Kelloway (Liberal, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton—Canso), Wayne Long (Liberal, New Brunswick, Saint John—Rothesay), and Ken McDonald (Liberal, Newfoundland and Labrador, Avalon) voted against the rest of their party on this.
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