OAS

It’s easier to spend today when you know you don’t have to worry about saving for tomorrow

The Scene. What does it mean to act? What is change? What does one do when one takes something and makes it somehow smaller? How should one describe such action?

Peter Nowak reports from Apple’s developer conference

On the Friday before the long weekend, the Harper government finally disclosed—three weeks after the opposition first asked for the figure—how much the proposed changes to Old Age Security were expected to save. As the CBC’s Laura Payton noted at the time, that estimate of $10.8 billion matched what a CBC reporter had been told on budget day.

In a note received just now, an official with the Finance Department explains how much will be saved by changing the age of eligibility for Old Age Security.

While the projected savings from raising the age of eligibility remain unexplained, the Parliamentary Budget Officer again says Old Age Security is currently sustainable and the Harper government is refusing to disclose a 2007 draft report into the policy implications of demographic changes.

Appearing before the finance committee yesterday, the Finance Minister attempted to clarify what he’d “heard” about the savings created by changing the age of eligibility for Old Age Security.

On April 24, Peggy Nash asked Human Resources Minister Diane Finley how much money the government expected to be saved by raising the eligibility age for Old Age Security to 67. The minister did not answer the question. Ms. Nash asked again. Ms. Finley again failed to answer the question.

Peggy Nash tries to reengage the Old Age Security debate.

Mr. Speaker, scandals are unacceptable to the NDP, just as they should be to the Conservatives. Changes to old age security are also unacceptable. Even though the Conservatives never talked about pension reform during the election campaign, they are now proposing to raise the eligibility age to 67. The Minister of Finance says that this will save money, but he does not specify how much. The question is simple: how much money will they save?

With some Latin American leaders looking at an end to the War on Drugs, Stephen Harper departs the latest Summit of the Americas with an acknowledgement that some kind of change might be in order.

The Cuban dictator has a few things he would like to say in reference to Canada.

The NDP is displeased.