I have known Reed Elley, our former MP, for a long time and Pat Scanlon's letter did him and seniors a real disservice.
It is simply incorrect to imply senior couples have not benefited from income splitting. While it is true that some seniors cannot take advantage of this given their income level, many more can and have. The success of this is why the government is now offering the same to middle income families with children under the age of 18.
Also, I was saddened at the veiled attack on Mr. Elley's own pension situation. He and his wife Louise are hardly rich. It would be interesting to know what the annual pension of the present NDP MP will be once she retires! Other facts get in the way of the writer, in the sense that the vast majority of MPs take a real pay cut to do the often harder work of an MP, who is typically recruited from better paid leadership in the private sector. Mr. Elley was a pastor for many years, raising with Louise four children of his own and four more who stayed
and became part of their family through their fostering of over 155 children. He was one of the few MPs whose salary actually increased.
However Pat Scanlon is to be praised for his careful personal witness that seniors don't pay thousands in taxes. That is precisely because of the tax cuts and many other benefits instituted by our Conservative government that allows seniors to live out their years with dignity.
Of course it is not only seniors that have benefited by the government's careful fiscal management. The recently announced budget is a case in point. Not only have they wiped out the deficit but they have balanced the budget. In doing so they are now able to offer for instance tax savings and benefits of up to $6,600 for the average two earner, two child family in 2015. And many more savings for all ages are included.
A little more courtesy and care with the actual facts by the letter writer would have elevated the normally helpful public discourse in this paper.
Jeremy Smyth Jeremy Smyth Candidate for Conservative nomination