Thank you for your question.
The situation described by Mr. Gagné and Mr. Auclair is very unfortunate. It is true that when there is a drop in private pension income, the government provides compensation. For every drop of one dollar, 50¢ is paid by the Guaranteed Income Supplement.
In the actuarial report, we take into account the number of applications for the Guaranteed Income Supplement, and the number of low-income retirees claiming it at 65 is much lower than it is a at age 75 or even 85. We also show this trend line over time.
One of the reasons for this is that many pension plans are not indexed to inflation. So, as the beneficiary ages, they are no longer eligible for the Guaranteed Income Supplement. When international organizations see what is happening in Canada and compare it to the situation in other countries—despite the fact that it is never an objective to receive a full pension and the Guaranteed Income Supplement—they note that, in the low-income group of people aged 75, 80 and 85, Canada's performance is even better than that of other countries. So, the Guaranteed Income Supplement is very useful in that regard.
We studied the trends over the last 15 years to come up with these projections. We noted a reduction in the Guaranteed Income Supplement in the long term.