Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Understanding that employment insurance is one guaranteed income program among many guaranteed income programs that are provided, I would argue that as a result of the pandemic we've seen gaps in guaranteed income programs, whether it's rates of EI, who qualifies for EI, who doesn't qualify for EI, and the consequences of that. I would recommend that part of the study be focused on a guaranteed livable basic income.
I know there's been some research that has already been put out by the Senate on the cost savings that would have been available had they put in place, for example, a guaranteed livable basic income, rather than the high administrative costs that were part of the CERB rollout.
Although people say seniors are different, I would argue that because seniors also receive a guaranteed livable income, we need to have a more holistic study of what that looks like going forward, rather than just studying a system that clearly is not working and not looking at alternatives