Jan 22, 2022
By Steve Kee
Federal New Democrats are calling for a swift emergency payment to help seniors who claimed pandemic supports which led to their guaranteed income supplement payments being cut.
The N-D-P say the emergency payment is needed for help low-income seniors pay for basics, including food and rent.
Rachel Blaney, the N-D-P’s spokeswoman on seniors said that some low-income seniors can’t afford their rent, and are living in their cars.
Blaney described the dire circumstances some pensioners who contacted M-Ps are in, saying some had gone to loan sharks for money to pay their rent.
Blaney says some family members of pensioners have told the N-D-P their relatives were considering taking their own lives.
In December, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland allocated 742-million-dollars for one-time payments to low-income seniors impacted by clawbacks of their G-I-S benefit.
But N-D-P M-P Daniel Blaikie says the money won’t reach seniors until May.
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