Good morning.
My name is Murray Bryck. I—along with my colleague, Michael Jolicoeur, over there—represent the National Association of Federal Retirees, which involves 170,000 retired and active members of the federal public service. We're the folks who work for you, with you.
We've already provided you folks with written briefs, so my comments are going to be very short today.
We have eight recommendations for you, and they're as follows.
Number one, protect the rights of older persons, commit to implementing long-term care standards and continue to expand the national seniors strategy.
Number two, implement a national pharmacare plan.
Number three, the importance of caregivers' work needs to be understood and financially compensated.
Number four, act on and implement equitable outcomes for veterans.
Number five, resolve the Phoenix system issues once and for all, and rebuild trust with the federal service.
Number six, expand the Public Sector Pension Investment Board to include a pensioner representative. That will be better for everybody.
Number seven, following revisions to the public service health care plan, similar action should be taken regarding pensioners' dental services plan.
Finally, the last one, number eight, is to act on cost of living issues by prioritizing a strong policy environment for defined pensions and address inefficiencies in retirement plans.
Thank you for the opportunity to be able to address your committee.