A call for cities to end discounts for seniors

Municipal discounts for seniors lead to unfair income distribution. That's according to a new report from the Institute for Research on Public Policy. Report author Harry Kitchen, Professor Emeritus in Economics at Trent University, says seniors no longer need across-the-board discounts for things like transit and recreation programs. 

When cities allow all seniors to access services at discounted rates, Kitchen argues, younger people take a hit. Since seniors no longer make up the largest percentage of Canada's poor, this means a city's poorer residents effectively subsidize their wealthier neighbours: "If you put subsidies based on age, you're basically subsidizing rich people as well as poor people." 

Kitchen acknowledges that some seniors do need a leg up-- but he says those people, and low-income residents of all ages, should be helped by provincial social assistance programs. 

Where some might see discounts as a way of honouring seniors, and rewarding them for years of contributing to society, Kitchen says that doesn't make sense. A senior himself, he says it's fine if private corporations want to treat seniors; but cities are different. He points out that cities have limited ways of generating revenue, and the money they collect is used in the year it is collected: "Why should you, when you're 75, not pay for the services that are being used up that year, but expect somebody else to pay your share?" 

I don't think that there's any Canadian who believes that we should have an income transfer system where we transfer money from the poor to the rich. - Harry Kitchen, Professor Emeritus in Economics

Kitchen says he's already getting some heat for going after seniors, but he says he's just doing what makes sense: "All I'm saying is look, for those seniors who are not poor, I don't see why we should be giving them special perks."