CambridgeToday received the following letter to the editor from reader Carolyn Laine in response to an article previously published in CambridgeToday, Feds announce funding for senior's programs in Cambridge
In today's issue of 'Cambridge Today' there is a feature entitled "Feds announce funding for senior's programs in Cambridge". Statements made by politicians as part of this article seem to claim we seniors are being greatly helped, financially, by the Federal government (see statement below), although the article has to do with seniors' programs, not income.
As I understand it, the minimum hourly wage in Ontario is $15.50 per hour. If you multiply that amount by 40, representing forty hours per week of work, and then by 52, representing 52 weeks per year, the total basic income before taxes is $32,240.00.
If you take Old Age pension plus CPP income monthly (2023), the total is $l,933.41. Multiply that amount by 12 months, total basic income before taxes is $23,200. 92, a difference of $9,039.08., or $173.83 weekly!
".....the federal government looks to address the growing needs of one of the largest populations in Canada." - excerpt from statement made jointly by Kamal Khera, Minister of Seniors, and Brian May, MP for Cambridge.
"“We have lifted hundreds of thousands of seniors out of poverty and one of the most important things is to help them stay at home in a comfortable setting,” said Khera. “This is key to ensuring they have the quality of life they so truly deserve.”
Assuming the aforementioned excerpt and statement are factual, the least our government can do is raise seniors' income to be on par with minimum wage. We have the same expenses as to those Ontarians making minimum wage. Why do we not have the same basic income? An additional $l73.83 weekly income would make a vast improvement in seniors' lives.
With incomes as they stand today, how is the government looking after seniors? How are they "ensuring they [seniors] have the quality of life they so truly deserve?
Let's have more facts and fewer fallacious statements and/or hyperbole in politicians' statements.
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Hyperbole is an intentional, obvious exaggeration, such as I hit that dang piñata a million times before it broke
Fallacious is a synonym of 'misleading'.
