1. Carbon Tax on Natural Gas Alberta seniors, particularly those on fixed incomes, have strongly objected to the federal carbon tax as an “unnecessary punitive cost” that drives up the price of everything. Premier Smith has highlighted the inequity of exempting heating oil used in Atlantic Canada while leaving natural gas — which most Albertans rely on for heat — fully taxed.
2. Inadequate OAS and CPP Increases Many Alberta seniors feel trapped in “legislated poverty,” blindsided by Ottawa’s 2022 two-tiered OAS increase that only benefited those over 75, leaving seniors aged 65–74 behind. Typical increases amount to just a few dollars per month — far below what inflation demands.
3. Erosion of Retirement Security via CPP Disputes Alberta’s long-standing grievance that it has contributed disproportionately to the Canada Pension Plan — while receiving less back — has fuelled debate over whether the province should establish its own pension plan, a concern especially acute for seniors who feel Ottawa manages their retirement funds unfairly.
4. Federal Energy Policy Strangling Alberta’s Economy Alberta seniors who built their lives around the energy sector resent that the federal government has piled interventionist and expensive policies on top of the carbon tax — including Bill C-69 (dubbed the “No More Pipelines Act”) and hard caps on oil and gas emissions — which are seen as deliberately targeting the province’s economic foundation.
5. Cost of Living & Affordability Crisis Many Alberta seniors on fixed incomes have experienced a dramatic squeeze from rising grocery, fuel, and housing costs over the past decade, while federal affordability rebates and programs have been seen as too little, too late, and inadequately indexed to real inflationary pressures.