For younger women, I would say that the target should be those who have children. There are a lot of ways to help families through family allowances or tax measures. Generally speaking, that's where the target should be, because these are the women who, because of their children, temporarily can't be in the workforce.
I have three other measures that affect more senior persons. I'll keep the most important one for the last. For those who can benefit from a pension plan, either themselves or from the survivor benefit from a spouse who worked in the private sector or the public sector, normally the survivor benefit consists of a surviving spouse allowance of about 50%. It seems that the 50% is not enough, so in this area improvements should be introduced. It's expensive, but this is where there are some ways of improving the economic standing of women.
The second one, which is at an even lower level of importance, pertains to the public sector pension plans. Most provisions of those plans are fair between men and women, except for a restriction that affects mainly women. We call it the marriage-after-retirement restriction, or marriage over age 60. Those who marry after retirement lose entitlement to the survivor pension.
This restriction does not exist in the CPP. It does not exist with the QPP. We--the Federal Superannuates National Association--been lobbying the government to remove that limit. Hopefully, eventually it will be removed.
On the last point I have to make, please keep in mind that it's personal. I'm not saying it on behalf of the FSNA; the FSNA has another position. I joined the association just three years ago and have not been able so far to convince them that this is the right target.
In 1996 the government proposed what's called a seniors benefit, which consisted mainly of transferring a portion of the OAS to the GIS. I'm much in favour of such an approach, so much in favour that if it were just for me, I would convert totally all the money paid through OAS into GIS.
Mrs. Rose mentioned that although the GIS is a very nice program, the level of poverty is set so that even if you receive this level, you're still in poverty. You live in a manner that can easily be qualified as miserable.
That's my main point. If there were a way to come back to the seniors benefit and reintroduce it in the House and even strengthen it, I would support it 100%.