Liberals propose new support for the elderly
Liberal Party Leader Philippe Couillard was in Sherbrooke on Wednesday morning to visit the residents of the Le Monastère retirement home on Ontario Street and to announce new measures his party hopes to implement, if elected, to support the elderly in Quebec. Citing the goal of helping to keep Quebecers active and financially supported in their old age, Couillard presented a plan that offers seniors a number of options focused on providing greater financial support.
“Where there is the choice to work longer, we will make it pay better. Where the choice of retirement is preferred, we will ensure a better financial security and better support to allow people to stay longer in the comfort of their own homes,” the party leader said.
Couillard’s five point plan proposes an option to suspend the provincial pension for an individual who wants to keep working as well as increases to existing tax credits available to seniors in the workforce.
“Right now seniors that want to go back to work or stay longer at work are penalized,” he said. “Once they start having their pension they are doubly taxed, with a tax on their pension and a tax on their salary. Being able to suspend their pension while it accumulates is a very significant benefit.”
The plan also increases the old-age tax credit (applicable to those 70 years old and older) by as much as $200, increases housing allowance for seniors and families making less than $17,000 per year who use at least 30 per cent of their income for housing costs, and provides additional tax credits for seniors seeking to remain in their homes.
“What we want to do is to give more disposable income,” Couillard said, noting that the new measures represent an investment of an additional $153 million per year.