Recent poll shows many Canadians aren't impressed with budget announcement
Some Canadians will not be eligible for Old Age Security (OAS) until they turn 67, according to the 2012-2013 federal budget, and many aren’t happy about it.
The change has been called “the most contentious idea in the budget” by Angus Reid Public Opinion, the polling company which conducted a recent survey with Canadians post-budget.
There were a lot of things in the budget that were popular — such as making charities more accountable by requiring them to provide more information about their foreign funding sources and increasing the amount Canadians can buy on an overnight cross-border trip without paying duty — but changes to OAS was very contentious, said Mario Canseco, vice-president, Angus Reid Public Opinion, based in Vancouver.
The online survey, which polled 1,060 Canadians, had about one-third (32 per cent) who said they thought the OAS change was a good idea.
Almost three-in-five (57 per cent) said they believed it was not the correct course of action.
“A lot of people didn’t think it was a good idea,” he said.
Those surveyed were randomly selected from a group of Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error — which measures sampling variability — is plus or minus 3.1 per cent 19 times out of 20, according to Angus Reid.
Prior to the budget, Angus Reid did a similar poll where Canadians were asked what they thought about the possibility of the budget containing a change to OAS.
“The funny thing is, we did one before the budget came out... basically talking about the situation,” he said. “(What) we found before was older Canadians, the over 55 crowd, they were the ones most opposed to any changes in the OAS because they knew it was going to affect them. Then when the actual budget was tabled and we figured out that this was only going to affect those under 55, that’s when things changed.”
In the post-budget poll, two-thirds (67 per cent) of respondents aged 35-54 said they thought the change was a bad idea.
Because this age group is a large part of those most likely to vote in elections, it could mean problems for the Conservatives when they look to get re-elected in three years, said Canseco.
“This could turn into an issue where if any of the opposition parties come out and say ‘we’re going to do away with this change, we’re not going implement it’… then they may have a problem in their hands.”
Susan Eng vice-president of advocacy at CARP, a non-profit organization with a mandate to promote and protect the interests, rights and quality of life for Canadians as they age, said older Canadians are concerned because they care about the social safety net.
“I think the bottom line for our members is they see these changes as an attack on the social safety net,” she said.
Even though members of CARP are all at an age where they already have OAS benefits, they are still very vocal in their opposition to the change, she said.
CARP members are also concerned the idea was never discussed in the election, said Eng.
“They’re not satisfied with the government’s explanation of why it’s necessary,” she said, adding CARP members want the government to cut from elsewhere.
While the change may not be impacting payroll directly right now, it’s inevitably something employees will have questions about.
“With the changes to the OAS, this may not directly impact payroll per say, however this may be information that you may feel you wish to share with your employees,” said Annie Chong, manager of payroll consulting group at Carswell, a Thomson Reuters business, based in Toronto.
The change has been called “the most contentious idea in the budget” by Angus Reid Public Opinion, the polling company which conducted a recent survey with Canadians post-budget.
There were a lot of things in the budget that were popular — such as making charities more accountable by requiring them to provide more information about their foreign funding sources and increasing the amount Canadians can buy on an overnight cross-border trip without paying duty — but changes to OAS was very contentious, said Mario Canseco, vice-president, Angus Reid Public Opinion, based in Vancouver.
The online survey, which polled 1,060 Canadians, had about one-third (32 per cent) who said they thought the OAS change was a good idea.
Almost three-in-five (57 per cent) said they believed it was not the correct course of action.
“A lot of people didn’t think it was a good idea,” he said.
Those surveyed were randomly selected from a group of Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error — which measures sampling variability — is plus or minus 3.1 per cent 19 times out of 20, according to Angus Reid.
Prior to the budget, Angus Reid did a similar poll where Canadians were asked what they thought about the possibility of the budget containing a change to OAS.
“The funny thing is, we did one before the budget came out... basically talking about the situation,” he said. “(What) we found before was older Canadians, the over 55 crowd, they were the ones most opposed to any changes in the OAS because they knew it was going to affect them. Then when the actual budget was tabled and we figured out that this was only going to affect those under 55, that’s when things changed.”
In the post-budget poll, two-thirds (67 per cent) of respondents aged 35-54 said they thought the change was a bad idea.
Because this age group is a large part of those most likely to vote in elections, it could mean problems for the Conservatives when they look to get re-elected in three years, said Canseco.
“This could turn into an issue where if any of the opposition parties come out and say ‘we’re going to do away with this change, we’re not going implement it’… then they may have a problem in their hands.”
Susan Eng vice-president of advocacy at CARP, a non-profit organization with a mandate to promote and protect the interests, rights and quality of life for Canadians as they age, said older Canadians are concerned because they care about the social safety net.
“I think the bottom line for our members is they see these changes as an attack on the social safety net,” she said.
Even though members of CARP are all at an age where they already have OAS benefits, they are still very vocal in their opposition to the change, she said.
CARP members are also concerned the idea was never discussed in the election, said Eng.
“They’re not satisfied with the government’s explanation of why it’s necessary,” she said, adding CARP members want the government to cut from elsewhere.
While the change may not be impacting payroll directly right now, it’s inevitably something employees will have questions about.
“With the changes to the OAS, this may not directly impact payroll per say, however this may be information that you may feel you wish to share with your employees,” said Annie Chong, manager of payroll consulting group at Carswell, a Thomson Reuters business, based in Toronto.
