Budget was not good news for seniors

March 16, 2016 · 0 Comments

Our MPP, Chris Ballard, in his “View from Queen’s Park” mentions the new budget has good news for seniors.
I thought he was joking.
The health premium “no tax” that Dalton McGuinty introduced in 2003 should have been set on employment income and not total income. A recent analysis notes that salaries increased 25 per cent over the past 12 years.
Pensioned seniors income over that period: Zilch. Zero. Thus carrying a higher burden of the tax over the years. It can be argued that seniors use a higher portion of health costs. However, they pay school tax even though they do not have children in school for the betterment of future generations.
In the current budget it is quite fair that drug costs for low income seniors should be eliminated.
The resulting deficit with a 70 per cent increase on deductibles should not be balanced on seniors making $20,000 plus per year.
I am certain in an annual budget of $110 billion other ways could have been found.

Art Hagopian
Aurora