I'm sorry if I appear nervous; I've never done this before, so I have a banging headache.
I've gone through your past sessions regarding CPP. When you look at CPP and what can we do as a Canadian government to help foster, grow, and help our, as you say, elderly, I believe that CPP— If we could look at when you're married and your spouse dies, right now you're entitled to what's called a survivor's pension.
What I think would be a good solution or a vision for the future would be to look at removing the cap and allowing the spouse—We all know that women live longer than men. I can't give you the stats; I know I'm supposed to, but I can't. If we could look collectively at removing that cap and allowing the women to collect what their spouses made through their CPP, then that would alleviate them being the number one contributors to poverty. It would also help them live.
Again, we only had a week. I interviewed 20 women over the age of 65. I asked them all, why have you returned to work, and why are you working part-time? All 20 answered, number one, my pension does not cover my cost of living, so I have to supplement my income by working part-time.
In my mind, if they were married, and they only get their survivor's pension, if we could remove the cap and allow them access to that money, then they would be able to live a little easier, and it might decrease the poverty line.