A commentary by a local writer, journalist and social justice activist.

Last week, there was a long line of seniors waiting for food at a well-known seniors’ centre in Victoria.

It is a national disgrace that poverty-level federal pensions are forcing our vulnerable elders to seek help in getting enough to eat.

Particularly egregious is the fact that this hardship is directly caused by inhumane public policies, making it entirely preventable.

The new year dumped even more financial stress on Old Age Security recipients, who now have to stretch a miserly pension an extra week between payments.

The last payment was Dec. 22, 2025, and the next one is Jan. 28, 2026. This waiting period of almost five and a half weeks imposes enormous hardship on seniors already struggling to pay for rent and food.

Five times this year, seniors will wait more than a month for OAS payments. Many ­low-income seniors have no savings, with OAS as their only income.

Within the present affordability crisis, the added burden of........

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