Thank you. I'm very happy to be here having this conversation after many years of advocacy by the NDP to have a national seniors strategy. We're at a breaking point. We really need to face that reality, that this is something that is much too late. However, I'm still glad to be here.
Of course, I want to express my appreciation to Dr. Avery from the CMA. I'm very proud that he comes from a community in my riding and understands the diversity of seniors across this country, and what it means to be in a smaller community and what it means to be in a larger community.
Your predecessor, the NDP MP for Nickel Belt, Claude Gravelle, worked for years to create a bill on a national dementia strategy. His bill was specific. There were requirements, actions to be undertaken by the Minister of Health to initiate a strategy. Unfortunately, his bill was defeated by a single vote in 2015 because a Liberal MP forgot to stand up.
The motion we have in front of us does not offer that level of required action. Don't get me wrong; I'm really glad that we're here and that we're advocating for long-term NDP policies, but what's really missing for me in this motion is action. We will be spending countless hours creating recommendations for a parliamentary report that might one day help shape a national aging strategy. I think your motion says, “provide advice on implementing a National Seniors' Strategy”, but what assurance do you have that one day we really will have a strategy that's effective and moving forward for seniors in Canada?