The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 25

The International News Weekly REGIONAL
December 15, 2017 | Toronto 04
Quebec's population
hits 8.4 million
Agencies
MONTREAL: Quebec's population rose slightly in 2016
to hit 8.35 million, the province's statistics institute said
Tuesday.The increase of 68,500 people came from 22,800
more births than deaths, net migration of 33,600 people
and 12,100 more non-permanent residents.
The Institut de la statistique du Quebec also said the
fertility rate in Quebec stood at 1.59 per woman in 2016,
down from 1.73 in 2008 and 2009.
The organization quoted Statistics Canada figures
that indicate Quebec had 22.9 per cent of the Canadian
population last year, compared with 38.5 per cent for Ontario.
That represents a drop of five percentage points in
Quebec since 1971 and an increase of nearly three percentage
points in Ontario over the same period.
Indian film wins award
at Vancouver festival
Agencies
VANCOUVER: Indian film "The
School Bag" has bagged the Best Short
Film award at the Vancouver Golden
Panda International Film Festival.
The fiction film, directed by Dheeraj
Jindal, is based in Peshawar, Pakistan.
"When we set out to make the film,
we had no idea that it would win so
many awards. What started as a strong
belief took a beautiful shape and has now reached out and
touched so many lives. We are overwhelmed. Thank you
Vancouver," Jindal said in a statement.
The prize includes a seven-day all paid filmmaker's
trip to China. The award ceremony was held on December
10.
New CPP changes end age
restrictions on survivor benefits
Agencies
OTTAWA: Samantha
MacDougall thought her
fight to get her late partner's
Canada Pension Plan
benefits would take years.
The government ended
the fight for her.
Newly approved changes
to the Canada Pension Plan
will mean widows and
widowers, regardless of age,
will receive full survivor
benefits, changing five
decades of federal policy.
The changes mean
anyone under age 35 without
children or a disability
will receive benefits
immediately, rather than
having to wait to age 65, and
will end benefit clawbacks
for survivors under age 45.
Anyone previously
denied survivor benefits
because of the age rule
will be able to re-apply for
benefits when the rules
take effect in 2019. Those
receiving a reduced benefit
will automatically see
their benefits recalculated
upwards.
The government
estimates the changes will
affect 40,000 people, about
half of them being young
survivors like MacDougall.
"It is the right thing to
do and seeing as the change
is being made, I must not
be the only one who thinks
so," said MacDougall, whose
partner, Greg Weeks, died in
2013.
"It is exciting that no one
else, including myself, is
going to have to waste any of
their precious living hours
having to fight this (rule)
any longer."
Federal research found
the tight rules disqualified
about one-third of widowed
Canadians from immediate
benefits, such as Jilian
Derksen who was told she
would have to wait until
she turned 65 to collect
payments.A federal tribunal
rejected her appeal of the
decision, saying she had no
hope of winning.
Derksen said she
planned to submit anew her
application for the benefits
accrued by her husband
Daniel, who died in 2016.
"This is great news, just
when I thought rules can't be
broken," she said.
For decades, the
government maintained the
age restrictions reflected
the fact that a survivor with
no children or disability
ought to be able to adapt
financially to the loss of a
partner by going back to
work. The benefits were
paid out when the surviving
spouse turned 65.
An official from the
Finance Department said
the changes recognized
survivors of any age
face financial difficulties
following the death of a
spouse.
The change to survivor
benefits was one of several
that Finance Minister Bill
Morneau and his provincial
counterparts agreed to
during a two-day meeting
this week and one that had
broad support from labour
groups and opposition
parties. But those same
groups are withholding
judgment on other changes
designed to boost retirement
benefits for parents and
those with disabilities.
The finance ministers
agreed to a formula to assign
income for years when
someone was out of the
workforce to raise a child
or because of disability — a
drop-in amount based on an
average of previous years'
earnings. The provision
differs from what exists
in the base CPP, where
recipients can drop years
of lower earnings from
the calculation of their
retirement pension.
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