Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I wanted to speak to the comments of Mr. Milligan on the GIS exemption.
I represent the Northwest Territories, which has a high indigenous population. Most of us live in small communities, including myself. I think I'm one of the few MPs who lives in a small indigenous community. I'm probably one of the few MPs who still lives in the community they were born in, and I do so for a reason. I like the wilderness. I like being able to put my canoe in the water and in five minutes I'm in an area where there are no other people. I also do like the society structure of our small communities. It's a structure where the elders, the seniors, are seen as very important. They have an important role and they're also very much respected. It's also a role that is being diminished for a number of different reasons. First of all, I think climate change has a big role. Migratory routes are changing. The best place to cross rivers and ice is changing. Google is also influencing our society because you no longer have to go to an elder to ask a question; you can just google the question.
Pension programs like the GIS have also influenced how the elders operate in our communities. Most of our elders don't have defined pension plans. They don't have government pensions. Most people don't have RRSPs in small communities, so they depend on the GIS and old age security. When they do work in the communities—in the schools or with youth groups—and they get honoraria or some kind of a pay, they're quite surprised at the end of the year when they get a tax bill. Because they're on fixed incomes and they don't have access to any other money, they're in a real financial bind for a long time. I think that for us in indigenous communities, and I think it's the same in most societies across the country, changing the exemption program gives the elders, or the seniors, a role to play in our society again, and I think that's important.
Would you agree with my comment that Canada has to not only recognize, but also allow seniors to play a role again in our country, and that this is part of how we could make that happen?