Generally in reference to the Feb 3, 2012 Article in
The Lethbridge Herald - Reality cheque
Editor:
According to Finance Minister Flaherty, by 2030 there will be so many low income Canadians requiring Old Age Security that taxpayers under 65 will be stuck with a bill of $108 billion. This is a frightening prospect. But my fear does not lie with Mr. Flaherty’s red flagging of an unmanageable financial prospect for working Canadians, but with his unblinking reference to the number of low income Canadians he expects by 2030.
Seems to me that what the Finance Minster is admitting is that within two decades Canadians in real need of a full OAS income (not clawed back through income tax) will grow three fold. This surely begs the question: who then will be the benefactors of the touted conservative financial agenda if it will not include Canadians retiring over the next 20 years? Who will be the ones to enjoy the returns from the economy of our future; the grand economy presumably achievable by removing corporate taxes, decimating civil services and setting the climate for quick corporate cash from the sale of unrefined resources to the US and China? If this Harper plan is not for the generation of prosperity for all Canadians, what then is it for?
If the sacrifices most Canadians will make as Mr. Harper pursues corporate welfare and the elimination of government do not ultimately bring about a reduction in dependencies on programs such as OAS, the cost to future Canadians will indeed be frightening.
Stuart Walker
Lethbridge
