Good afternoon, everybody. I'm glad to see that everyone is here. We're going to start a few moments early, because there is a chance that we might be cut off by votes. Bells are apparently starting at 5:15.
Today, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) we are doing a study of advancing inclusion and quality of life for Canadian seniors. I'm very excited to get this study under way.
We have Tammy Schirle, professor in the department of economics at Wilfrid Laurier University, appearing as an individual and coming to us from Guelph, Ontario.
Hello. I was born in Guelph, Ontario, so I'm very pleased to have you here today.
We also have, for the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, Wanda Morris, vice-president for advocacy, appearing by video conference from Surrey, British Columbia.
Appearing in person from the Council on Aging of Ottawa is Richard Shillington, adviser.
From HomEquity Bank we have Yvonne Ziomecki, executive vice-president.
From Prince George Council of Seniors we have Lola-Dawn Fennell, executive director.
Thank you all so much for being here today.
We have a very large panel, so we're going to get right to it. We're going to have opening remarks of about seven minutes. Once everybody has had an opportunity to speak, we'll have a series of questions from everybody here.
To start us off today, we're going to go to my birthplace—Guelph, Ontario.
You're up first, Tammy. The next seven minutes are yours.