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Canada: B.C. Backs Federal Bid to Revoke Pensions By Janice Tibbetts, Postmedia News
Canada
The majority of
Canadian provinces -- including Ontario and Quebec -- are withholding a
commitment to sign up for a federal plan to revoke government cheques for
incarcerated seniors, an initiative spurred by revelations that serial
killer Clifford Olson is receiving monthly payments in prison. The federal government is soliciting provincial support to repeal federal
benefits for seniors serving time, but Joe Kim, a spokesman for Ontario Community Safety Minister Jim Bradley,
said the province will make a decision if and when the federal bill
passes. "We will continue to follow this bill as it makes its way through
the legislative process," he said. "And if it passes, we'll have
to review and discuss logistical matters with the federal
government." Kim noted that Finley now has a bill before Parliament to cut off income supplements for
about 400 prisoners in federal penitentiaries, including Olson. But she
needs the provinces on side to repeal federal benefits for another
estimated 600 inmates who are serving time in provincial jails, which
house offenders serving sentences of less than two years. The government introduced a bill in June to cut off the Old Age Security
and Guaranteed Income Supplement cheques after learning that Olson, 70, is
receiving $1,100 monthly. The federal government says it intends to go ahead with or without the
holdout provinces, where hundreds of provincial offenders are serving
time.
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