Economic experts call it 'terrible policy,' but most Canadians support expansion of Old Age Security benefits: Nanos survey
Amid new polling indicating most Canadians support boosting Old Age Security (OAS) benefits by 10 per cent for seniors aged 65 to 74, a former Liberal finance minister and former Bank of Canada governor are warning the government not to pursue the policy change.
According to a new conducted for 麻豆影视, more than 3 in 4 Canadians support or somewhat support the increase, with support strong across the country, across gender and age groups.
The push to increase OAS is one of two key demands from the Bloc Qu茅b茅cois to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberal government.
Bloc leader Yves-Fran莽ois Blanchet has given the government until Oct. 29 to help enact a pair of private members鈥 bills 鈥 one of which proposes a 10 per cent increase to OAS for seniors ages 65 to 74 鈥 or risk an election before the new year.
Earlier this week, the Bloc used its one opposition day of the fall sitting to present, and later pass, a symbolic motion on its OAS bill that asked for the government to "take the necessary steps to ensure that a royal recommendation is granted as soon as possible.鈥
Despite the political pressure, a pair of former economic heavyweights told 麻豆影视 Channel's Power Play host Vassy Kapelos that the federal government can't afford to enact the expansion.
"It's really bad policy," said former Liberal finance minister John Manley. "This is not something that should be done on a universal basis. Meeting people's needs, especially the elderly, that's very important. But understand this is not targeted to those who need it. This is universal. It's a bad idea. It's too expensive. There are many other priorities that the government needs to address well before this one."
Former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge agreed. "This is bad economics."
"The last thing that we need to be spending money on at this point in time is boosting consumption for relatively well-off people," Dodge said. "It's just terrible policy, both on economic grounds, but on social grounds as well. This is the most favoured generation."
While most Liberal MPs voted against the Bloc's pension play 鈥 expressing concerns about the cost on the precedent of the potential program expansion 鈥 the proposal was supported by Conservative, New Democrat and Green MPs, as well as a handful of Liberal backbenchers.
The vote was non-binding, meaning the federal government does not have to act on it.
After the vote, Blanchet said if the Liberals think they'll get any more time on its ultimatum, .
"They have until a few days from now to go on with the royal recommendation. And if they do not, we will start as rapidly as next week to speak with other opposition parties in order to get ready to go into an election," Blanchet said.
In an interview on CTV Power Play on Wednesday, Government House Leader Karina Gould wouldn't rule out that the Liberals are still trying to find a path forward with the Bloc.
"I don't negotiate in public, and I don't talk about those conversations, but I can say, and I think our government has demonstrated that when it comes to good ideas to support Canadians鈥 We are there for Canadians," she said. "We are open to good ideas."
Asked if given the political dynamics and majority House of Commons and public support for the boost to seniors' benefits that the federal minority government will be pressured to acquiesce, Manley said "polls can say one thing today and a different thing tomorrow."
"It's foolish for leaders to run to follow anyway, they should be running to lead. And I think the need to give an explanation to people about why this is poor policy is evident by the polling result," he said.
In an interview with CTV's Power Play last week, Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux said it may be "a bit tricky" for the federal government to meet its fiscal anchors if it acquiesces to the Bloc鈥檚 demand to expand the OAS. Giroux calculates that demand would come with an annual price tag of more than $3 billion, with a total cost of $16.1 billion over five years.
Last year, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged new fiscal guardrails aimed at limiting spending and deficits.
Methodology
The Nanos Research poll randomly surveyed 1,058 Canadians aged 18 years or older between Sept. 29 and Oct. 2. Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell-lines) hybrid telephone and online random survey. The margin of error for this survey is 3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government鈥檚 three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party鈥檚 popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn鈥檛 be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Interest rate drops to 3.75% as Bank of Canada makes another cut
The Bank of Canada made a sizable cut to its key lending rate Wednesday from 4.25 per cent to 3.75 per cent as the global economy continues to expand. The half percentage point cut is the fourth rate cut in a row by the central bank as inflation dropped from 2.7 per cent in June to 1.6 per cent in September.
A new report suggests that Canadians' exposure to a radioactive gas is increasing, putting millions of people at a higher risk of developing lung cancer.
Does the updated COVID-19 vaccine protect against the XEC variant?
The XEC strain, a hybrid of Omicron subvariants KS.1.1 and KP.3.3, was first detected in Canada in mid-August and the number of COVID-19 cases with the XEC variant has rapidly increased.
Bank of Montreal says website outage resolved
The Bank of Montreal says it has restored access to its website after an outage Wednesday.
'Unbelievably violent': Gisele Pelicot, French victim of mass rape, takes the stand
Gisele Pelicot, the 72-year-old victim of mass rape whose ordeal has shocked the world, told a trial in southern France on Wednesday that she was determined that making her case public should help other women and change society.
Children's clothing sold at Giant Tiger recalled for lead: Health Canada
A recall has been issued for certain clothing items sold at Giant Tiger stores over high levels of lead, according to a notice published by Health Canada Tuesday.
W5 Investigates How a clothes donation bin company passed itself off as a charity, while donated items were put up for sale
In part two of a four-part investigation into the seedy underbelly of the lucrative clothing donation bin industry, CTV W5 uses trackers tp reveal a for-profit operation masquerading as a charity.
Police have confirmed the body of an employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax over the weekend was found in a walk-in oven.
Liberal caucus meeting underway with a number of MPs set to ask Trudeau to step down
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's caucus is meeting this morning for its weekly gathering, this time with much higher stakes, as an evolving number of MPs is expected to confront the leader and ask him to step down.
Local Spotlight
A meteor lit up our region's sky last night 鈥 with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.
Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.
A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.
A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.
A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.
Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.
Looking for a scare with good intentions this Halloween season? The ghosts and ghouls of Eganville, Ont. invite families to tour the Haunted Walk at Lekbor Manor.
The image of a sleepy Saskatchewan small town with 'not a lot going on' is a well-known anecdote. However, one Saskatchewan company is hoping to change that 鈥 and allow communities both on and off the beaten path to share their stories and advertise what they have to offer.
A Moncton, N.B., home has been donated to the Friends of The Moncton Hospital Foundation and will be transformed into a resource hub for people living with cancer.