Ahead of federal byelection in Quebec, the Conservative party is pitching higher OAS payments. Photo by designer491 /Getty Images/iStockphoto

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They must have thought English speakers across the rest of Canada would never notice the slogan. On the podium sign at a Conservative campaign event in Quebec ahead of the upcoming federal Chicoutimi-Le Fjord byelection, it read: “Plus d’argent pour nos aînés.” More money for our seniors.

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The same seniors who are currently, by far, Canada’s wealthiest demographic and also, by far, the federal budget’s single largest line item. Seniors benefits represent approximately one in five federal dollars spent each year, beating out spending on housing, national defense, and even health care.

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The campaign sign may as well read, “more money for the rich.”

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By nature, slogans are short, pointed, and will never convey the full context or depth of a party’s policy proposals. However, this wasn’t a case of bad comms or missing details. Rather, the details behind the sign are only more confounding and infuriating.

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The CPC isn’t proposing to shift more spending to seniors living in poverty, who do need more support as cost-of-living continues to soar. They want to funnel more taxpayer dollars to all seniors, not based on need, and regardless of wealth. And they want to do it twice!

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They both resurfaced an ill-advised 2025 election promise to remove federal income taxes for seniors on the first $34,000 they earn, and also now pledge to increase Old Age Security (OAS) for seniors ages 65 to 74.

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To say this is a slap in the face to younger generations, who are by far bearing the brunt of the housing crisis, elevated inflation, historically high unemployment, and outdated tax brackets that treat today’s middle-class earners as though they were luxuriously wealthy, is a gross understatement.

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How bleak is the economic situation for millennials and Gen Z? So bad that many feel they can’t afford to have the kids they would otherwise desperately want, a major driver behind Canada’s ultra-low fertility rate. The notion of taking more money from the nation’s young and transferring it to older generations should be so far outside the Overton window you can’t even glimpse its silhouette.

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In fairness, the CPC proposal to increase the tax-free income threshold is actually a good idea — if they weren’t gatekeeping the change to seniors at the expense of struggling younger workers. But, instead of ensuring everyone keeps more of their paycheque, this policy instead uses younger workers’ tax dollars to subsidize tax cuts for seniors regardless of their wealth or income level.

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Yet it’s their promise to boost OAS that’s the most egregious from just about every angle you examine it from — generational equity, class equity, and fiscal responsibility. OAS currently accounts for one in six federal dollars spent each year, totalling between $81 and $89 billion annually and is projected to surpass $100 billion annually by 2030.