!s/S/VVol. 14 No. i Wednesday, January 4. 198416 Pages 'Cul p a ý CP Rail finishes $ 260,000 proj*eet CP Rail wasn't up0 the creek When it haâd to filgure- out how to replace three, 42-foot long (12.8 m) spans «f a rallway bridge over Lynde Creek in Whitby recently. A 250-ton crane'had to be manoeuvred -into position on* a platform bulît by Canadian Pacific Raiiway crews over the creek. The job, which involved closing CP Rail's main 1line between Toronto and Montreal , had been expected to take two days for the 35-man crew to compiete but the task had been accompllshed ln less than il hours.-The $260,000 proJect, approved by the Central Lake Authorlty Ontario Conservation Authority ln early December, is part of $51 million CP Rail spent In Ontario during 1983. Photo by CP Rail Increases ini Family Allowance, Old Age Security, Canada Pension Plan New Year-brings good news Ontario residents receiving Family Allowances on behalf of their children will benefit from an increase as of January .1984, Health and Welfare Minister Monique Begin announced recently. Family Allowances paid monthly for children under age 18 wiIl rise to $29.95 from $28.«52. Th is 'increase of five percent is ini accor- dance with the "6Oand 57 restraint guidelines. In addition, the refun- dable Child Tax Credit for the 1983 taxation year wil provide up to $343 per child per year based on family income. Ini order to receive the tax credit, the parent must file an lncome tax return even if -they had little or no taxable hi- corne in 1983. Old Age Security, Guaranteed Income Supplement and Spouse's Allowance benefits are also going up in January. 1For the first quarter of 1984, Old Age Security (OAS) pensions, wîll be indexed at' the annual rate of five percent, amounting to $263.78 per month frorn $260.52.. The Guaranteed In- corne Supplement (GIS) for low-income pen- sioners is not affected by the &"6 and 5"1 limitation and wil con- tinue to be adjusted quarterly in Une with increases in the cost of living. For single pensioners, those payments will in- crease to $265.60 from $Ê61.55. This will give a person receivingý both OAS ,and the maximum, GIS a total of $529.38. The maximum 'GIS paid to a married. couple, both of whom are pensioners, will be $204.86 each, Up from $201.65. This will give each married pensioner receiving both OAS and the maximum GIS a -total of $468.64, or $937-28 for the couple. The Spouse's Allowance will - be $468.64, up from $462.17. Persons eligible for this benefit are between -ages 60 to 65 and married to an OAS/GIS pensioner. Canada Pension Plan recipients are also see ing their benefits in- creased in the new year. The annual adjustment, which this, year is 6.7 percent, is based on the rise in the cost.of living over the1 past .year. In.- dividuals receiving' these pensions also i- clude pensioners eligible for. disability payments, persons receiving surviving spouses' pensions, children receiving mon- thly benefits as depen- dentz of disability pen- sioners or as orphans of deceased contributors. For those who become eligible for benefits in 1984 the maximum mon-' thly retiremnent pension wil be $387.50. The maximum disability pension is $374.50 per month while benefits for disabled contributors wil be $83.87 per month per child. Surviving spouses un- der age 65 will received a maximum of $229.18 per month while those 65, or older wiil have maximum rnonthly,: benefits of $232.50. The new ceiling for com- bined benefits is $387.50 per month. There is also a lump su'M death benefit payable under the Canada Pension Plan. The maximum payable- in respect of con- tributors who die in 1984 will be $2,080. Canada Î?ension Plan benefits are based on a person's actual ear- nings and contributions for the period during which that person could have contributed to the Plan., There are yearly minimum and maximum earnings levels between which persons contribute. For 1984 these levels are *2,000 and *20,800 respectively. î N V. U