Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Pekrui, I understand perfectly the situation you are describing, namely that a large proportion of women between the ages of about 55 and 65 are in a very difficult spot, especially those who are widowed and whose husband was previously getting an Old Age pension. The situation means that these women's income drops.
In your brief, you state that the age at which people can start receiving Canada Pension Plan and Guaranteed Income Supplement benefits should be lowered to 60. Even in industrialized countries, the trend is going the other way; people are waiting as long as they can to retire and start drawing benefits. This is the complete opposite to the current trend
In some European countries, access to pension benefits is being delayed several years so that people stay in the workforce as long as possible. The feeling is that even here, because of the precariousness of pension plans, the trend is more to delay by a year or two the start of Old Age Security, Quebec Pension Plan and Canada Pension Plan benefits.