Financial Measures Act (Rent Supplement Amendment) - Committee of the Whole

Thank you Mr Chair. I have very little to add to the words of my colleague who I would say brought this issue to light. The member's office was the first to discover this and brought it to our caucus where we brought it to the floor of the legislature. But I just wanted to point out two other small points that I actually believe it's important to have on the record. As the member said, this change will result in increased homelessness but I but I think that some of the details of that are important.

So number one, by changing the criteria, you reduce the number of people on the list. So when we come back into this House and we hear from this government that there are fewer people on the list, let's remember that that's because they changed the criteria, not because there are fewer people in need. They will come back, they will say it, it will be inaccurate.

The second thing I want to point out, and this was brought to light by my colleague, the member for Halifax-Chebucto, is that prior to this change, a senior whose income was CPP and OAS was eligible for a rent supplement and now they are not.

So I want this government to understand that this change will imperil the housing security of hundreds, if not thousands, of seniors across this province, and will contribute to putting more seniors deeper into poverty. These are two things which must be said on the floor of this House and without accepting an amendment like this or changing the program will most certainly come back to haunt this government.