Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you so much to the witnesses who are here to talk about volunteerism.
I'm going to start, if I may, with Ms. Trauttmansdorff. Thank you for what you've brought to the table.
What we've heard in testimony so far on this is about the impact of the cost of living. That's in particular for seniors, because they are often the people we lean on the most to be the backbone of volunteerism. I know that in my community, as you said, local is everything.
This has been documented repeatedly in the news as well, which I referred to in another committee. What we've seen is that seniors are being forced back to work. They don't have that extra income and consequently that extra time. They're stepping up and helping with child care for their grandchildren. They're paying more in heat, hydro and groceries. Some of them don't even have the money for the fuel to drive. In my community, there is Community Care, an amazing volunteer organization that helps.
Have you seen the cost of living have a direct impact on being able to recruit and retain volunteers, especially seniors?