Madam Speaker, before I ask a question of my colleague, I want to read a letter from one of my constituents, Carole Lalonde, from Elliot Lake. She says:
Hope U are fighting for us NOT to have HST in Ontario. It may help the Ontario gov't, but it sure would NOT help us, the seniors, and lower income people. This is going to cost us an additional 8% on so much, and our income stays the same. I don't hear of any plans to increase our pensions, and we could sure use it. Everyone gets a raise except the ones that need it the most.
My colleague spoke about pensions and she spoke quite eloquently about the needs of women. Could she maybe speak a little more on that and respond to the fact that too many seniors live in poverty, especially single women seniors, and why we would not move forward on legislation right now to increase the pensions of seniors as opposed to taxing them more on something they cannot even afford right now?