$250 checks: Liberals invite people to think about the idea of ​​including retirees

The idea of ​​extending to retirees eligibility for $250 checks promised by Justin Trudeau’s government for workers earning $150,000 or less in net income must be considered, Liberal elected officials believe.

A priori, it’s a good idea to have this conversationsaid Ottawa South MP David McGuinty on Wednesday on his way to the weekly meeting of the Liberal caucus.

The latter mentioned having heard seniors and people with disabilities asking to be included in the announced measure.

I reflect what I hear in government […] for me everything is negotiablehe summarized.

His colleague Marcus Powlowski believes that the government should absolutely extend the measure to seniors if we have the means.

Would lowering the ceiling of $150,000 in annual income allowing a person to receive their $250 check, as proposed by the Bloc Québécois, be a good way to do it without additional costs?

This could be a way to do itadded the Ontario MP for Thunder Bay–Rainy River.

Respond to demands from opposition parties

A little earlier, the lieutenant for Quebec of Mr. Trudeau’s troops, Jean-Yves Duclos, underlined the need for the government to seek to respond to the demands of the New Democrats and the Bloc.

The two opposition parties are making the extension of the measure to seniors who do not have work income a condition for them to support the government in its possible bill on the subject.

These are discussions that took place […] with the opposition parties because we are in a minority governmentargued Mr. Duclos.

The Liberals will necessarily need the support of the Bloc or the New Democratic Party (NDP), since everything suggests that the Conservatives will vote against.

Asked by journalists about his openness to changing the parameters of his measure, the Prime Minister simply declared that he and his caucus had good discussions.

Leaving Wednesday’s meeting, Nova Scotia MP Darrell Samson said no decision had been made.

A Liberal MP, Ontario’s Chad Collins, reported to the Toronto Star that he intended to vote against the measure if seniors could not benefit from it.

Elected officials who stopped to speak to reporters Wednesday were more measured in their remarks. Many, like Mr. Powlowski, said the government could help retirees in other ways.

MP Kody Blois, for example, recalled that he is pleading for an increase in the income that seniors can earn without seeing their Guaranteed Income Supplement cut.

Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, lui, likes the conversation started by the Bloc around the Old Age Security pension.

The Bloc is campaigning for this to be increased for seniors aged 65 to 74, in the same way as the Liberals did for people aged 75 and over.

I think we deserve a more serious conversation about reform of the [Sécurité de la vieillesse] to ensure its viability, but also to ensure that we help those who need it mostMr. Erskine-Smith told The Canadian Press.

The Bloc demands un engagement clair of the government

On Wednesday, the Bloc sought to increase pressure on the Liberals to extend the scope of $250 checks to retirees. The political party’s spokesperson for seniors, Andréanne Larouche, surrounded herself with representatives of retiree defense groups to hammer home this request.

$250 for someone making $100,000 is a drop in the ocean, but $250 for someone making $22,000 a year is a lotsaid the president of the Quebec Association for the Defense of the Rights of Retired and Pre-Retired Persons, Pierre Lynch.

Ms. Larouche believes that the government, now, must make a clear commitment to reassure seniors [et leur dire] that they will not be forgotten.

Mr. Trudeau maintained Tuesday that the check was for those who work hard and succeedbut that the government is taking targeted measures to help different groups.