Thank you very much.
With respect to the provisions in the change, our members are very pleased with the concept of tax relief. We polled them about the different parties' election promises, and a quarter of them said tax relief for the middle class was their highest priority. That was second only to increasing funds for home care.
In terms of how effective the budget has been in achieving that goal, we didn't poll on those specifics. Where we have some concerns about the proposed changes is with respect to the reduction in the TFSA limits. Before the limits were increased, we polled our members to see if they were supportive of the increase, and fully two-thirds of them were. With the announcement of a potential reduction, we polled again, and about 54% were opposed. Possibly the gap there may be attributed to people who anticipated using the higher limits and weren't able to do so. Approximately 81% of our members have a TFSA, so this is a proposal that is near and dear to their hearts.
Our concern is primarily about an ad hoc approach to changing the retirement framework for Canadians. What we know right now is that there is much poverty among Canadians, particularly seniors, particularly single seniors, particularly female single seniors. What we would prefer to see the government do is to take an overall strategic approach to look at retirement savings as a whole, rather than tinkering with one particular element and reducing the relief available.
CARP is a strong advocate for an enhanced Canada pension plan. We see movement happening in Ontario for a made-in-Ontario solution. There's a strong preference for a Canada-wide solution that covers all Canadians.
We're also deeply concerned about the way that registered retirement income funds are currently structured. Even with the changes that have been made in the past years to lower the mandatory rates, they are not low enough. Seniors are very vulnerable to changes in the market under the current structure. The assumption of a 5% real return, which the current rate seems to be based upon, does not reflect the reality of a low-risk portfolio, which seniors want and would be wise to adopt.
We cannot support a reduction in TFSAs as a stand-alone measure. We are aware that there are over a quarter of a million Canadians right now who are aged 90 and over; that number is projected to increase, particularly among women, again, a group very vulnerable to living in poverty as they age. We think that the RRIFs are falling far short of meeting their needs, so reducing an alternative vehicle that might offer some relief doesn't have the support of CARP.