Thank you, Madam Chair.
First, I'd like to welcome you. It's a great pleasure for me to hear your evidence. Ms. West and Ms. Blake, I consider you pioneers. You have experience, you've fought and argued, and you've been committed to the cause of women. Part of me would like to thank you for everything you've done for the cause of women, and you, Ms. Calhoun.
However, I'm very disappointed to hear that the poverty rate among older women in Canada is nearly twice that of men, and that the vast majority of people living in poverty are women. It can even be said that poverty is specific to women.
The road to poverty is also a major stressor for women who have to make life choices. Even if they want a place in the labour market, at some point, they have to make a family choice that may perhaps unconsciously lead them to a state of poverty.
Ms. Calhoun, is it possible to develop a strategy that would help the women of today and tomorrow have an occupational and personal life that suits them, a strategy that could ultimately remove them from this economic insecurity?