Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Not too long ago I spoke about what I consider to be punitive income support policies. I was, and still am, particularly concerned with the Minister of Education’s view that an RRSP, a retirement savings plan, is considered a rainy day fund by the department and that an RRSP must be cashed in for a client to access income support.
With the help of our very capable Legislative Assembly staff, I did a little investigating of income support policies across Canada, and surprise, surprise, most provinces and territories exempt RRSPs from consideration as income for income support purposes. With slight variations, almost everywhere in Canada, except in the NWT, income support clients can keep their RRSP funds. As long as the funds in the RRSP are locked in, meaning they cannot be cashed in before retirement, then they are not considered when calculating income support payments.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Nunavut, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Ontario the client’s locked-in RRSP is exempt. In Quebec and Alberta, RRSPs are exempt up to a certain value, $60,000 and $100,000.
Mr. Speaker, 10 of the 12 jurisdictions I could check recognize RRSPs as a savings tool and allow income support clients to keep that safety net for retirement.
When I questioned the Minister previously, he made sure to tell me that registered savings disabilities plans and registered education savings plans are safe from liquidation for income support purposes. The income support manual states, “A Registered Disabilities Savings Plan, RDSP, is a savings plan to help parents and others save for the long-term financial security of a person who is eligible for the disability tax credit.” So, it’s okay in the NWT for a client to save for a child’s future, but it’s not okay for the same client to save for their own financial future.
Do we value our elders? I keep hearing that we do, but this policy flies in the face of that. It ensures that our seniors, our elders, will have no savings to top up their Canada Pension Plan payments when they retire. It’s well known that seniors are often our poorest residents, usually because they have no pension other than Canada Pension Plan. Our policy is contradictory to most other Canadian jurisdictions where locked-in RRSPs are excluded. If that is so, why do we have so many seniors and elders who can barely make ends meet?
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted