Shameful secrets: How Service Canada treats seniors

The current government doesn't want Canadians to know what programs and services they could be accessing, says Wayne Marston, the federal NDP critic for human rights, seniors and pensions.

Marston was in the Sault yesterday to gather evidence about some serious and disturbing trends that he says particularly affect seniors.

One woman at yesterday's information session, after learning about a government program from Sault MP Tony Martin, wondered out loud why no one had told her about it.

She said it seemed like a conspiracy to keep secret programs and services that seniors could access if they knew about them.

"It's not a conspiracy," said Marston. "It's a directive that the Liberals put in when they were in power."

Marston explained that when the government stopped replacing government workers who left their positions, it also directed staff to give out no more information than what was directly asked of them.

"A person in Service Canada is not allowed to give you information you do not ask a direct question about," he said. "Before, like 10 or 15 years ago, they used to tell people about it [services and programs they offered]. Then they just stopped. They did it to save money."

Many Canadian seniors don't even know they could be accessing a guaranteed income supplement, said Martin.

"Any senior who is making less than $16,000 a year should come into my office or get themselves into an Service Canada office," Martin said. "It's the floor they've set and everyone should be getting at least that much. If you're not, you're missing something you should be getting."

The general consensus among seniors at the information session was a lot of seniors are missing out on things they should be getting.

To address this issue, Marston and the NDP introduced a motion in the House of Commons.

The NDP motion was intended to ensure all Canadians can count on a dignified retirement.

On June 16 it passed unanimously and Marston maintains that much of the motion's success was due to the support and lobbying efforts of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP).

Marston said that MPs were inundated with letters and e-mail messages from CARP members and other seniors advocating for the motion.

The motion sought to:

Ensure the sustainability of Canadians’ retirement incomes by bringing forward at the earliest opportunity, measures such as;

- expanding and increasing the CPP/QPP, OAS and GIS to ensure all Canadians can count on a dignified retirement;

- establishing a self-financing pension insurance program to ensure the viability of workplace sponsored plans in tough economic times;

- ensuring that workers’ pension funds go to the front of the line of creditors in the event of bankruptcy proceedings;

- in the interest of appropriate management of the CPP that the Government of Canada immediately protect the CPP from imprudent investment practices by ceasing the practice of awarding managers performance-based bonuses; and

- take all necessary steps to recover those bonuses for 2009, ensuring managers in the future are paid appropriate industry-competitive salaries.

Now, Marston wants to be prepared to go back to the House of Commons armed with anecdotes from seniors across the country, supporting his assertion that action needs to be taken on these issues sooner rather than later.

Statements from seniors at yesterday's meeting supported Marston and the NDP's commitment to pension reform.

Another woman said she was made aware of a program that would help her repair the roof of her house so she could stay in her home longer.

She said she tried to access the program, but was told it would take at least two years to get the money she needed to fix her house.

"I couldn't wait that long, so I sold it," she told Marston.

Another woman said she believes seniors who haven't voiced support for seniors' issues are quiet because they feel like they will be ignored if they speak up.

"I don't know why they feel that way when we are the largest group in Canada," she said.

She said many believe that income support and other issues have been ignored so long that nothing they say will make any difference.

"I think we need a revolution," she said. "That's what it will take to make the changes needed."

Marston said the revolution is already underway but it's not an armed uprising.

Instead it's an advocacy movement being led by groups like CARP, he said, and it needs more members.

Marston also said that real change in a reasonably short time is possible with enough advocacy.

"One personal letter counts as 5,000 votes," he said. "Get involved."