MONTREAL -- The Parti Quebecois (PQ) is proposing a one-time refundable tax credit of $700 to help seniors aged 65 and over earning $35,000 or less a year before taxes "get through these tough times."

The PQ hopes that Francois Legault's CAQ government will add this measure to its Nov. 25 mini-budget, explained finance critic Martin Ouellet in a telephone interview.

He estimates that the measure would affect more than one million people, or more than half of Quebec seniors, at a total cost of $716 million.

"The deficit is not where it should be according to the 2021-2022 budget," said Ouellet, who hopes to use the savings to fund the tax credit.

The Legault government will announce its new deficit estimate at the Nov. 25 economic review.

POVERTY AND INFLATION

"It can make a huge difference on grocery, electricity, rent and gas bills," said Ouellet. "Women are also at a disadvantage, since most of them have less savings and have had maternity leave, and often they are the ones who drop out of the workforce faster to care for loved ones."

He added that seniors are the first to experience poverty because their income is fixed.

"There aren't many pension plans that are indexed to inflation," said Ouellet. "Once I have my RRSPs taken, I'm left with my fixed income with the pension plan, so every increase in inflation has a direct impact on the next few months."

The Bank of Canada calculated a 4.4 per cent increase in the consumer price index in September, the latest month on record. The institution normally seeks to keep inflation of the Canadian dollar between 1 and 3 percent annually.

According to the latest figures from Statistics Canada, in 2019, 5 per cent of Quebecers aged 65 or older (81,000 people) were living below the official poverty line.

The Market Basket Measure, used for this calculation, determines the amount needed to cover the most minimal needs.

This threshold corresponds, for a single person, to a net annual income between $18,902 and $20,080, depending on where they live, according to 2018 data.

LONG-TERM THINKING

The tax credit sought by the PQ would be distributed only once, as it would be part of the budget adjustment.

"Obviously, in the next budget, we would like to see the credits already provided for seniors be increased to meet inflation," said Ouellet.

The budget will be tabled next March. It will be the last one before the 2022 provincial election.

Legault already said he wanted to "put money in the pockets of Quebecers" to "deal with this huge increase in the cost of living."

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 14, 2021.