OAS

Wednesday June 6, 2012

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday June 6, 2012

Opposition to stall budget bill

The federal NDP is warning it’s prepared to force potentially hundreds of confidence votes – taking dozens of hours – on amendments to the Conservatives’ sweeping budget bill that will keep the Tories on their toes in the House of Commons.

The NDP, Liberals and Green party leader Elizabeth May are informally teaming up to delay passage of bill C-38 and highlight to Canadians what they say is undemocratic tactics by the government to stuff so many “reckless changes” into one piece of legislation that will overhaul environmental protection and the country’s social programs.

While the government views the opposition’s tactics as procedural stunts, the proposed reforms in the 425-page budget implementation bill would have profound impacts on Canadians of all ages for decades to come. Bill C-38 proposes major reforms to Canadian environmental and fisheries laws, natural resource project approvals, employment insurance benefits, Old Age Security eligibility and food safety, among the hundreds of measures included in the legislation.

To combat the looming changes, opposition parties have been introducing dozens of substantial amendments at the Tory-dominated House of Commons finance committee, which is reviewing the bill, and a subcommittee that already examined the proposed reforms to environmental protection and resource development.

The finance committee is expected to send the legislation back to the Commons as early as today, where the Green party leader (who doesn’t have a seat on the committee) plans on introducing somewhere between 100 and 200 major amendments of her own. (Source: Saskatoon Star Phoenix)

 

Monday May 28, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Monday May 28, 2012

EI Reform Arrives

Proposed changes to Employment Insurance will divide claimants into three categories:

• Long-tenured workers who have paid into the EI system for the past seven of 10 years and who, over the last five years, have collected EI or fishing benefits for 35 weeks or less.

• Frequent claimants who have had three or more claims for regular or fishing benefits and collected benefits for a total of more than 60 weeks in the past five years.

• Occasional claimants would be all other claimants.

The changes will hit each group separately. Long-tenured workers will be given more time to find a job in their usual occupation and at a similar wage (starting at 90 per cent of previous hourly wage.) After 18 weeks on EI benefits, long-tenured workers would be required to expand their search to jobs similar to the one they normally perform and to accept wages starting at 80 per cent of their previous hourly wage.

Frequent claimants would be required to expand their job search to jobs similar to the one they normally perform at the onset of their EI claim (one to six weeks) and accept wages starting at 80 per cent of their previous hourly wage. After receiving benefits for seven weeks, they would be required to accept any work they are qualified to perform (with training, if required) and to accept wages starting at 70 per cent of their previous hourly wage.

Occasional claimants could limit their job search to their usual occupation and wage (at least 90 per cent of previous hourly wage) for the first six weeks of their claim. After that, they would be required to expand their search to jobs similar to the work they normally perform with wages at 80 per cent of previous earnings. (Source: Toronto Star) 

 

Friday March 30, 2012

Friday March 30, 2012Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday March 30, 2012

Budget confirms Old Age Security push to age 67

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is pushing ahead with the government’s plan to raise the eligibility of Old Age Security to 67 from 65, in an effort to make it sustainable for future generations.

The change, which also applies to the Guaranteed Income Supplement, was confirmed in Thursday’s federal budget. It will affect anyone born on or after April 1, 1958.

Jim Flaherty“We want to make sure OAS is there for people in the future, and to ensure that it’s there for people when they need it,” Flaherty said.

OAS reform will be gradually phased in over a six-year period, starting in April 2023.

Flaherty said OAS will come under huge strain as the Baby Boomer generation, with its sheer size and longer life expectancy, leaves the workforce and its poorest members seek the security program for added financial assistance.

“The Old Age Security program was designed for a much different demographic future than Canada faces today,” Flaherty said in prepared remarks.

“In the 1970s there were seven workers for every one person over the age of 65. In 20 years there will be only two. In 1970 life expectancy was age 69 for men and 76 for women. Today it is 79 for men and 83 for women. At the same time, Canada’s birth rate is falling.”

The government maintains that without reform, the OAS program will increase from a total cost of $38 billion in 2011 to $108 billion in 2030. (Source: CTV News)