The Canada Pension Promise

I would hope by now you are happy with the Liberal plan, in Budget 2016 and 2017, to eliminate poverty with an increase to the Canada Pension Plan. (CPP)

In a nutshell the CPP is made up of several plans all in one or nothing at all:

• Canada Pension Plan for those who contributed


• Old Age Security


• Guaranteed Income Supplement


• Provincial Benefit Plans

Your Investments reduce all of the above as punishment for thinking ahead. You get to pay taxes on the interest and pay taxes a second time when your withdraw money. On top of those insults your CPP+ benefits decrease. Company Pension Plans can reduce or eliminate most of the above.

If you worked for the government at any level, you need not worry, since those wealthy pensions are funded by the taxpayer.

The word poverty is used 13 times in the 271 page edition of Budget. Three times when mentioning seniors in Canada. The same people who worked and find themselves facing a convoluted pension plan after 60 plus years.

Anyone who worked had best prepare yourself for the usual $7.00 per month pension increase in July. In fact, their was a one-time increase of $72.00 in July, 2017 and it disappeared the following month. Most did receive $5.76 as a monthly increase based on someone's idea of inflation. The inflation rate does not include food, transportation or rental increases except for Member's of Parliament and the ever more useless unelected Senate in Canada.

Examples of a large increase, used in Budget 2016-17, were meant to get you excited. The empire of bureaucracies is hoping the thrill will eliminate payments due to heart attacks.


Yet another meaningless promise to the millions of seniors in poverty from the Liberal government under Justin Trudeau

Canada signed onto the Millennium Poverty Goals at the United Nations. Sadly reports in Canada base the poverty line on the Low Income Cutoff or LIM. Statistics Canada has made it very clear LIM is not a measure of poverty in Canada. The second false premise about poverty is the use of Line 150 on the Income Tax Return. Total Income on Line 150 includes  non-taxable supplements.

Poverty and low-income should be using Total Taxable Income on Line 260.

We do need concerned politicians who are willing to understand low-income and poverty for every Canadian.