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Paul Martin Will Help Care-Givers, Seniors and Canadians With Disabilities |
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Written by LPC
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Friday, 06 January 2006 |
Prime Minister Paul Martin today unveiled a plan for improving support for care-givers, Canadians with disabilities and seniors.
The New Measures to Support Caregivers includes a new Family Leave Program to allow Canadians caring for a seriously ill loved one to take up to two months away from work without losing their job or benefits. The current EI Compassionate Care Benefit will be broadened to include family members other than the currently-specified parent, spouse or child. Martin assured part-time workers that they would be included in the new program.
Unpaid care-givers have also been included in Martin's planned measures by:
- increasing the current Caregiver tax credit by a further 50 per cent to $15,000;
- creating a new Community Care-giving Canada program to encourage community-based solutions to care-giving challenges;
- providing new one-stop tools to help guide caregivers toward and access the best of community resources.
The Prime Minister also announced a detailed plan to provide $500 million in new support to assist Canadians with disabilities which would include a plan to create a Registered Disabilities Savings Plan (RDSP). The RDSP will allow one to make tax-deductible contributions to savings for the benefit of a disabled dependent after a specified period of time.
Also included for Canadians with disabilities:
- $150 million over five years for employability assistance programs for Canadians with disabilities under Labour Market Agreements with provinces and territories;
- $50 million over the next 5 years to extend eligibility for the Disability Tax Credit and increase the maximum Child Disability Benefit;
- $65 million over this year and the next 5 years to increase the refundable medical expense supplement to $1000 a year
- $135 million from the Post-Secondary Innovation Fund to improve access to post-secondary facilities and programs for Canadians with disabilities.
Improving quality of fife for seniors is another area in which Mr. Martin has outlined various improvements.
In recent years, reverse mortgages have become a popular tool for seniors on fixed incomes to access a portion of the equity in their home, without making payments until the home is either sold or settled in an estate. However, the commercial institutions offering reverse mortgages frequently charge high rates of interest.
A new Liberal government will introduce legislation to create a Mortgage Equity Access Now for Seniors (MEANS) program, which will allow Canada's growing seniors’ population to access the equity they have in their homes.
A Liberal government will also help ensure that seniors can remain active in their neighbourhoods and communities through a $50 million investment to expand the New Horizons for Seniors program, which promotes voluntary-sector activities by and in support of seniors.
These measures build on the $2.7-billion increase to the Guaranteed Income Supplement included in Budget 2005, which is the largest increase to the GIS in Canadian history and saw the maximum yearly GIS benefits increase by $216 for individuals and $348 for couples starting January 1, 2006.
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