OTTAWA—Prime Minister Stephen Harper was accused on Monday of misleading Canadians for springing a surprise cut to retirement benefits without first raising the idea during last year’s election.

Harper was on the defensive as Liberals and New Democrats condemned the Conservative government for looming changes to the system of old age benefits.

“It is the politics of deceit and abandonment,” Liberal Leader Bob Rae said as MPs returned to the Commons after their Christmas break.

Harper used a speech in Davos, Switzerland, last week to outline big changes his government plans for Canada, including immigration and Ottawa’s system of retirement benefits.

Speaking Monday, Harper said that changes are needed to ensure retirement income programs remain sustainable as baby boomers reach retirement age and begin to draw on the programs.

“Everybody understands that there are demographic realities that do threaten the viability of these programs over the longer term. We will ensure that these programs are funded and viable for the future generations that will need them,” Harper told the Commons.

While the Conservatives insisted that seniors who now get Old Age Security payments won’t be affected, it could be the next generation of seniors who pay the price to put the system on a sounder financial footing.

Future seniors could be out of pocket by as much as $12,192 in today’s dollars if the Conservatives force them to wait two more years — to age 67 — before they can collect the benefit, which pays on average $6,096.

But Rae accused the Conservatives of abandoning the most vulnerable seniors who earn under $25,000 and rely on Old Age Security benefits to help make ends meet.

“This government campaigns promising to maintain a structure in place for senior citizens and then it goes to Davos and announces that they were only kidding in the last election,” Rae told reporters outside the Commons.

“They must have known about it during the last election. They told the Canadian people the exact opposite of what they’re doing today,” Rae said.

NDP MP Peter Julian accused the Tories of spending billions of dollars on new prisons and corporate tax cuts while crying poor when it comes to seniors.

“The elderly can no longer trust this government,” Julian said.

“If the Prime Minister was so concerned about cutting OAS, why did he not say anything about it during the election? Why did he hide his agenda during the last election campaign?”

Diane Finley, the minister of human resources and skills development, confirmed that changes are coming to the Old Age Security system, which she said is not sustainable, but stayed mum on the details. And Government House Leader Peter Van Loan would only say that the reform would be focused on “the medium and the long term,” which would suggest the OAS changes would be phased in between five to 10 years from now.

The details of the government’s plan on retirement benefits are unlikely to be available until the federal budget is delivered, likely in March. While OAS, which is available to all Canadians who qualify at age 65, is being studied for changes, the Canada Pension Plan, which helps those who have been in the workplace, will not be altered, Harper says. Likewise, the Guaranteed Income Supplement, which helps low-income seniors, is not up for reform.

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Past governments have looked at reforms of retirement support without success because of the potential backlash from voters.

Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney partially de-indexed pensions but backed down in the face of public opposition. Paul Martin as finance minister pushed for reforms as well in the mid-1990s but couldn’t sell Prime Minister Jean Chrétien on the changes.

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