Status of Women committee  I think it's an important point, and I think what we see in Laval and Montreal is a real effort to reach out to non-English and non-French speakers because we do have a large community and they don't only live in Montreal and Laval. I will echo a little of what was said before.

Status of Women committee  I think that physicians in Canada face a lot of challenges. I think governments are doing what they can in many ways to support them. I want to echo what Michael said earlier around some of the work that we're doing. I think it is really important for the government to help advocates to educate seniors to make sure that they....

Status of Women committee  I think all of the things you're saying are absolutely true. I think in many cases it's really empowering for women. It helps them feel more engaged with society. It helps them have access to other people and to make new friends and new connections. As was mentioned, it also helps with that informal information sharing.

Status of Women committee  I just think it's really important to echo the point made that we have some fantastic programs in place to support youth who are trying to develop and do things, yet I see a real lack of that kind of support and service for senior women who would like to go out and start their own business, or who have particular skills that could be developed.

Status of Women committee  I think that's definitely part of the answer. The other answer is our doing more work to support and educate our seniors on what questions to ask and on how to ensure that they are seeing the right professionals to answer their needs. That's a super-short and simplified answer, but I think it works both ways.

Status of Women committee  I was going to say that often, I agree, there's a real issue, but I also think that people sometimes struggle. They are intimidated at the doctor's office. Certainly, English-speaking seniors don't know how to express what their needs are, so as advocates for that community we need to do more to empower them by telling them how to ask questions and making sure they're seeing the right people.

Status of Women committee  I haven't heard of it anywhere else, but I don't know. I can't speak to that for sure.

Status of Women committee  I think it requires a certain level of creativity. I was at a conference recently and I saw a really interesting presentation from a local CLSC in Quebec, and it was having difficulty with this. How do you reach these communities? How do you reach people who aren't online or who can't afford the Internet?

Status of Women committee  No, I think that's a really good suggestion. It is a huge challenge that you present. Many levels of government are facing the same questions. Some of the lack of adaptable services is not due to lack of will. It's the administrative complications of trying to get everyone on the same page in order to do something effective and efficient that serves the community and is not onerous to the levels of government.

Status of Women committee  Thank you so much for having me. I'm going to provide a little bit more of the story around some of those numbers and what the particular challenges are that English-speaking senior women in Quebec face. They are unique. I'm not going to say they are unique specifically to Quebec, but this is a language-based minority in a province that is quite particular so the circumstances are a little bit unique.