NDP calls on government to give emergency one-off payment to desperate seniors

OTTAWA —
New Democrats say the federal government should give the most cash-strapped seniors a one-off emergency payment to help them pay for basics, including food and rent.

Rachel Blaney, the NDP’s spokeswoman on seniors, says during the winter some low-income seniors can’t afford their rent, and are on the streets or living in their cars.

The NDP wants a swift emergency payment to help seniors who claimed pandemic supports which led to their guaranteed income supplement payments being cut.

At a virtual news conference today, Blaney says she has been contacted by family members of pensioners — including a granddaughter — saying their relatives were considering taking their own lives.

In December, in the government’s economic and fiscal update, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland allocated $742 million for one-time payments to low-income seniors impacted by clawbacks of their GIS benefit.

But NDP MP Daniel Blaikie says the money won’t reach seniors until May.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2022.