I am not Prime Minister, nor Minister of Finance, nor Minister of Seniors, but as spokesperson for the official opposition for seniors, caregivers and home care, I consider it my responsibility to duty to carry the torch with disabled seniors.
When a person is disabled and recognized as disabled after a tedious process, they receive disability benefits and stop contributing to the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP). Her future retirement pension will therefore be lower than what she could have received, had it not been for her disability.
From his 65e birthday, she is punished by reducing her benefit by 24% given that she received disability benefits between the ages of 60 and 65. She is no longer considered disabled, but retired. This “end of disability” is an illusion, because the person in a wheelchair does not start walking again, and expenses related to their disability such as the purchase of equipment not covered by RAMQ continue to increase. .
Judgment rendered
The Administrative Tribunal of Quebec (TAQ) wrote in black and white, in a judgment rendered on July 28, 2023, that section 120.1 of the Act respecting the Quebec Pension Plan (section 120.2 in the old law) covers infringement of the right to equality, based on mental or physical deficiencies.
Shortly before the start of the parliamentary term, the CAQ decided to appeal this judgment.
The RRQ is in very good financial health, said the Minister of Finance during the consultations on the RRQ last February. And even if it were not, it is not up to 28,000 disabled seniors to bear the burden for the 4.33 million QPP participants and the 2.2 million beneficiaries.
Concrete effects on providers
I therefore urge the Minister of Finance to put aside his vision of columns of figures and look at the concrete effects of this untenable situation on a daily basis for disabled seniors aged 65 and over. He cannot say he is sensitive to the plight of these people on the one hand and perpetuate the 24% penalty on the other.
I call on the Prime Minister for empathy in the current context of the housing crisis, homelessness and the cost of living. Mr. Legault, take the opportunity of this judgment to put an end to this injustice:
- Repeal the discriminatory section of the law
- Do not appeal the TAQ’s judgment
- Settle with families
You will give our disabled fellow citizens the means to preserve their dignity instead of condemning them to poverty at 65.
Isn’t the greatness of a nation measured by how it treats its most vulnerable people?
Linda Caron, Member of Parliament for La Pinière and spokesperson for the official opposition for seniors and caregivers and home care