Sign up for the paNOW newsletter

Hey! Wait a minute! Whoa! What are we thinking?

Dec 16, 2010 | 7:35 AM

I receive the Old Age Pension and CPP. Husband and I have saved money, have a pension and Pat Weir has invested our money wisely, so we will be okay – not rich but comfortable.

Like most seniors, we have worked most of our lives. Most of us have been Canadians all our lives.

So why does someone who can afford $50,000 to buy a space on a ship bringing them to Canada illegally, get more money than a senior?

Only in Canada: a refugee gets a monthly pension of $1,800, plus $580 in social aid X 12 months for an annual income of $28,920.

A senior, cannot receive more than $1,012.00 in Old Age Pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement X 12 months, can receive an annual income of $12,144.00.

The refugee gets $16,776 more than a Canadian who has worked for 40 years or more.

How is a single senior to live on $1,012.00 per month? Rent is approximately $750 month, plus utilities, plus food, plus transportation, plus medication and health care, plus income taxes! GST and PST. Seniors live below the poverty level if these government allowances are all they have. Way below the poverty level.

The Old Age Pension was raised in November by $3.11. A senior can therefore have a loaf of bread but not milk or milk but not bread too on that increase. The raise on Canada Pension was two fifths of one percent. There was no increase on their Old Age Security. Not very secure eh? We actually give money to the nations that build IEDs – the explosives that kill our men and women who are there to help.

We can adopt foreign orphans while our own orphans go unadopted. We can give money for, and aid to, millions in other countries but can’t take proper care of our seniors, veterans and orphans not to mention street people – often mentally ill or illiterate – and who depend totally on others for food, shelter and medical care – if any.

To top it off, MPs Bob Rae and Ruby Dhalla want to lower the length of time necessary to qualify for Old Age Pension from ten years to three. Thousands could come to Canada at age 62 and qualify for Old Age Pension without having contributed one thing to Canada.

Gee thanks seniors. We are really grateful for what you have sacrificed, the work you have done, the things you have built, the life you have given to the next generation and the people with $50,000 to come here and live better than you do.