A now-retired Prince George man has launched a petition calling on the federal government to increase Old Age Security by $300 per month.
Wesley Henry said he took the step after watching the federal budget speech in April "and not one word of seniors."
"And all the time I've been watching the news, the senior word has not been used once. I thought this isn't right, everything else is there - daycare, street people - but the word senior is not there."
Since then he's collected more than 600 signatures and is seeking more. The petitions can be found at the Brunswick Street Senior Activity Centre (425 Brunswick St.), The Salvation Army Curt Garland Centre (3500 18th Ave.) and PG Floor Fashions (1990 Ogilvie St.).
"I go through parking lots and talk to people," Henry said. "I've had two rejections. One, he said the government's already spending too much money and I said 'they're sure as the hell not spending it on seniors,' and he said that's fine. And another guy had an inheritance but I said 'this isn't about you, or me.'
"But other than that, everyone comes with open arms, young and old."
Now 75 years old, Henry retired this past January following a long career in building supplies and flooring and says he's reasonably comfortable.
"This isn't strictly for me but the way things are going, who the heck knows who's going to need it. That's the biggest story we hear from people is that we thought we had enough money to retire on."
OAS is available to everyone 65 years and older. The maximum payment for ages 65 to 74 is $666.83 and, for those 75 and older, $733.51, according to the Government of Canada website.
If you're one of the fortunate who made more than $79,845 for the year ending July 2023, you will be subject to clawbacks and will be ineligible for OAS once your income strikes $129,757.
Conversely, seniors on low income can qualify for either a Guaranteed Income Supplement or an Allowance.
GIS is available if your income below $20,208 and you're single. For couples the thresholds vary from $26,688 to $37,392 to $48,432 in combined income and whether or not your spouse receives the full OAS pension or receives an allowance. Maximum monthly payments range from $599.53 to $995.99.
Allowances of up to $1,266.36 are available for couples taking in less than $37,392 and the partner receives the GIS and full OAS. If you're a surviving spouse and live on $27,240, you can qualify for an allowance of up to $1,509.58.
Henry's rallying cry is also based on an opinion piece posted in 2010 on the CBC website and headlined "Sorry, Canada, the U.S. has a better social safety net." In it, Tony Keller makes a convincing argument that the the American system of government-sponsored pensions, known as Social Security, offers retirees bigger pensions than Canada's equivalent program, the Canada Pension Plan.
A perhaps more nuanced and up-to-date comparison can be found online at Investopedia. Upon turning 66 or 67, depending on their year of birth, Americans are eligible for as much as $3,345 per month in Social Security, according to the posting.
But the authors also warn that because Social Security is funded through payroll taxes on employee wages, there have been "continuous fears" that it will become underfunded. In contrast, Canada's retirement programs are generally considered safe because they are funded out of general tax revenues.
Improving Old Age Security has been on at least on advocacy group's radar.
In a pre-budget submission, CanAge called for an assortment of measures to improve financial security, including extending OAS benefits to the surviving spouse of the deceased for three months, and financial relief for seniors through payments or tax credits to offset increased costs brought on by inflation.
CanAge also called for an end to mandatory withdrawals from Registered Retirement Income Funds and the protection of pension funds by making workers privileged creditors under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.
In a post-budget scorecard, CanAge gave a mixed review to the federal government's response to its proposals, assigning "partial win" to ensuring public pensions such as OAS, CPP, and GIS reflect the current consumer price index and "win" to some measures related to banking services and investments but "loss" to all the others.
Henry, meanwhile, has forwarded copies of the petition containing more than 600 names to Cariboo-Prince George MP Todd Doherty and is now pushing to get another 1,000 or so.
"If Trudeau would've mentioned the word 'senior' that day, I wouldn't have even thought about a petition," he said.
