Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you very much to all the witnesses who took the time to respond to our questions.
First of all, I want to contextualize my question. I'd like to remind this committee that the previous government made seniors a top priority. I was honoured to have served as Minister of State for Seniors for five years. I have also had the honour of working together with NICE, and then with the long-term funding...and they've done an excellent job as well. In the previous government we were able to really look at issues of care, worker support, and taking care of the caretakers. What is unfortunate is that the current government does not prioritize seniors and their caretakers enough to continue our hard work on the file through a dedicated ministry.
I believe it was Danis who mentioned that you need a secretariat to really focus on seniors and then coordinate everything. You also need somebody who actually gives directions to the secretariat. I'd also like to say that, yes, some of the policies have been able to pass from the 41st session of Parliament to the 42nd—for example, the new horizons for seniors program. That is good funding for all the community groups that are helping to fight against elder abuse and helping, especially, seniors in isolation.
My question is this. Do you believe there is enough to address the dire financial straits many caregivers find themselves in? I know that our friends across also mentioned that about family caregivers. In some of my observations, some of them are also working at the same time.
I'd like to see if maybe Mr. Mirza could shed some light on that.