Status of Women committee  Perhaps I can take that. The tax-free savings account will help, but there is a key problem to think about. The whole tax structure for retirement income in the country is based on this year's earnings. While there is limited carry-forward for RRSPs and defined benefit pension

Status of Women committee  Again, it's a help, but it still doesn't replace the fact that for the individuals we're talking about, there was a significant period during their careers when they couldn't have contributed to a tax-free savings account because they weren't here, or when they couldn't have cont

Status of Women committee  There are a number of different elements in there. One is that by using GIS, you're targeting the money--

Status of Women committee  --and I think that's the better way to go. If what you're trying to do is focus on the 4%, you don't want to provide something that also goes to the 96%.

Status of Women committee  The question I have is whether that's the right target. I'm not saying that because I think a different target is appropriate, but as we heard, the definition of poverty is relatively arbitrary. It may well be the best target, but that question should be asked and answered. I d

Status of Women committee  Let me take those in reverse order, actually, because I think it's a little easier that way around. I would be very cautious about any form of pension insurance providing for additional security. I don't think the objective of additional pension security is a bad objective; I th

Status of Women committee  I'm going to talk for the next little while about security of pension benefits. As background, James took you through some of the numbers concerning people in Canada who participate in pension arrangements in the public sector and the private sector. I will take a separate cut

Status of Women committee  I will. The point I want to make is that this is focusing on defined benefit pension plans, and they've gone down in value. That's been front page news. Everybody's RRSP account balance and defined contribution account balance has gone down in a similar fashion over that period