I read both our Member of Parliament, Dean Allison’s column regarding the Old Age Security (OAS) Bill C-428 and the follow-up letter written by Amy Romagnoli.

Upon reading that Ms. Romagnoli supported this bill, I naturally assumed she would offer a standpoint supported by verifiable facts. Needless to say, I was disappointed.

Ms. Romagnoli is not only uninformed, but her implication that our government favours Western ‘white’ nations in foreign agreements regarding OAS is most offensive. She makes an attempt to back up this claim by stating that Canada has no comparable OAS agreements with nations such as the Philippines, African states, the Caribbean and South America.

A simple Google search quickly disproves her claim. Canada does in fact have OAS agreements with states such as the Philippines, Morocco, Trinidad and Tobago and last I checked Uruguay was still in South America. That’s just to name a few.

I suppose these agreements beg the question as to why Canada does not have agreements with every nation – and the answer to that is quite simple; Canada makes OAS agreements with nations that have comparable social security programs in effect. It is as simple as that. It should also be noted that these agreements are reciprocal and a Canadian would qualify in another country in which we have an agreement should they choose to move there.

Bill C-428 would provide new immigrants with OAS benefits after only three years residency when they have come from a country with no comparable program into which to pay.

Canada’s OAS program provides benefits to residents of our country regardless of race, gender, creed, religion or country of origin. It simply requires the beneficiary to make a reasonable contribution to our country in order to reap its benefits.

I had hoped at the very least, we could have expected accuracy from Ms. Romagnoli. But she has failed to note that even Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has publicly stated that Ms. Dhalla’s colleagues are not in agreement and that the Liberal Party itself is not going to be supporting its own member’s bill.

I guess even Liberals can recognize a dumb idea when they see it.

Pete Willetts, Beamsville, ON