Hyperbolic vitriol doesn’t help seniors

“When it comes to taxation, our politicians should ‘do no harm’,” commentary, Feb. 4.

The writer is upset because she received her OAS payment on Jan. 27, more than five weeks since the payment on Dec. 21. She refers to this time between payments as “inhumanity from Ottawa” and “absolute irrationality of government decision making.”

She doesn’t appear to take into consideration that the payment previous to December arrived on Nov. 28, three weeks earlier. The OAS and CPP payments normally arrive two or three days before month end — the one in December was obviously timed to arrive early, before Christmas. How is that inhumane?

She further says that “under present laws, employers are expected to pay workers within a reasonable time frame, month after month.” I used to be an employer. I can’t imagine an employee complaining about being paid a week early.

She is described as a “senior’s advocate.” Self-appointed, I expect. I’m a senior, born on the vanguard of the postwar baby boom, and she certainly doesn’t represent me, especially with the hyperbolic vitriol used throughout her piece.

How is that supposed to help get a better deal for seniors?

Supplements and subsidies are taxed so that those who need them less than others have to pay some, or all of it, back, depending on their taxable income. Seems to me to be a reasonable way to keep it fair.

Stephen Pierrot Saanich