Yes, we definitely do.
There are two ways you can look at this. One part is the business environment that is often pressuring seniors in those asset-rich and income-poor circumstances to enter into reverse mortgages. Now, we do not entirely endorse that approach because it leaves them with no asset and no alternative, and it creates a real serious problem for them. It might be appropriate, in limited circumstances, where the need is greater for immediate cash; however, it is not one of the options that we favour as the first option.
Instead, we look at the fact that there are people living in homes that they have lived in for a very long time who now can't afford to live there because of either property taxes, insurance rates, or utility rates, and those are areas in which the various levels of government can help.
For example, in Ontario, the harmonization process will create a new provincial level of tax on home heating oil. We would be recommending against that harmonization or for some kind of rebate for home heating fuel. Again, in the provincial context, we are recommending against or finding some level of relief for the massive increases in property taxes, for example.
So there is a multitude of options that provide people with the opportunity to stay in their home rather than choosing only the option of converting the equity in their home into immediate cash.