An NDP government would reverse changes to Old Age Security (OAS) by restoring the retirement age to 65 instead of 67, New Democrat Leader Thomas Mulcair said Friday.
Speaking at a town hall meeting sponsored by the seniors’ organization CARP, Mulcair said the NDP would kill the changes within its first year of forming a government.
“We honestly believe that in a country as wealthy as Canada it is absolutely inexcusable to have hundreds of thousands of seniors living below the poverty line, and an NDP government will correct that immediately in its first year,” Mulcair said.
He said he’d also strengthen the Canada Pension Plan and the Quebec Pension Plan, and ensure that seniors with workplace pensions are protected if a company goes bankrupt. “We’re one of the only countries that doesn’t protect pensions in the case of bankruptcy or insolvency,” said Mulcair. “That’s entirely unacceptable.”
Mulcair added that the NDP would also propose a caregiver tax credit for seniors who take care of their spouses, which would take some pressure off an already taxed healthcare system.