SURREY - Local New Democrat MP Jasbir Sandhu said his party will fight the federal Tories "tooth and nail" if the governing party raises the eligibility to receive Old Age Security to age 67 from 65.

"There's no confirmation," the Surrey North MP noted Friday, as the government had yet to dispel or verify the rumours.

But media speculation is rife that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is planning to raise the wait to 67, following remarks he made at a World Economic Forum in Switzerland this week.

The Prime Minister's Office issued a dispatch short on details Friday stating that there will be an "adjustment period" so current retirees or those close to retirement won't be affected by "any changes" while others will be given "plenty of time to adjust and plan for their retirement."

Harper told the gathering of business tycoons and corporate elite at the WEF that Canada's retirement income system with be changed in coming months as the nation's aging population poses a "threat" to the sustainability of the country's social programs.

Interestingly, back in November Harper's government introduced a new "super visa" designed to bring more parents and grandparents into Canada, and faster. This will let 10,000 more parents and grandparents into the country each year - to a total of 25,000 - by way of a new multiple-entry 10-year "super visa" that will permit stays of up to two years at a time.

That announcement came on the heels of a report by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in Ottawa suggesting that Canada's increasingly aging population could lead to a debt crisis here similar to what Greece is now facing, when baby-boomers retire en-mass and increase demand on public spending.

Sandhu noted that those seniors most dependent on OAS are less fortunate people without company pension plans or other means on which to rely in their retirement years.

If the government does make Canadians wait until they're 67 to collect OAS, Sandhu said, "We will fight that vigorously.

"We will fight tooth and nail with the Conservatives to give seniors dignity in their retirement."

Meanwhile, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Canadian MPs enjoy the best pension plan on the planet and Harper himself stands to be able to collect an annual pension of $223,500 by 2015.

Sandhu said the NDP has called on the Tory government to have an "arms-length" body evaluate the MP pension plan to bring it more in line with reality.

"He (Harper) should do that," Sandhu said.

tzytaruk@thenownewspaper.com