Status of Women Committee on April 21st, 2026

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

I made a note of that; that's clear. Employment insurance reform is one of our key issues in the Bloc Québécois. We recognize that these people need additional help. We'll talk about this again, Ms. Estienne, if I'm unable to ask you any more questions.

What I was going to say is that I recognize the concerns of the community sector. I had the opportunity to work in the community sector in a previous life. I helped my friend, who was a volunteer, start one of the first respite homes for caregivers in Quebec, a Maison Gilles‑Carle. We recognized that caregivers needed respite. They had to be able to rest. I commend all the community groups that have been at the end of their rope in recent weeks. The people in the “Le communautaire à boutte!” movement are doing exceptional work for caregivers and seniors.

Ms. Rose, I'm going to turn to you now, because another key issue for the Bloc Québécois is that of seniors' fixed incomes, which aren't enough. It's clear that seniors are unable to make ends meet. That's why the Bloc Québécois introduced a bill on this in the last Parliament. The bill wouldn't have solved everything, but there's currently an inequality between pensioners aged 75 and over and those aged 65 to 74. Seniors who are 75 and over had their benefits increase by 10% several years ago now. Given inflation, that's not a lot of money. However, people aged 65 to 74 didn't even get that 10% increase.

You say that we need to think about retirees' fixed incomes.

Do you think this inequality between retirees is acceptable?

At the very least, shouldn't all seniors, from 65 years old, be entitled to the same amount for their pension?

Ms. Rose, the question is for you, because you talked a lot about seniors' income. In fact, the Bloc Québécois has introduced another bill to ensure that the pension amount is the same for all seniors.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on that, in 30 seconds.

[Deborah Rose]

Are you talking to me?

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Yes, Ms. Rose.

If not, Ms. Schoepflin could answer my question.

I'll come back to you later, Ms. Rose.

Ms. Schoepflin, in under 30 seconds, should we consider giving the same amount to all seniors from the age of 65?

[Deborah Rose]

What I can hear is muffled.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

I apologize.

That concludes your time, Madame Larouche.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Madam Chair, I understand that there are interpretation issues, but have you stopped the clock each time there has been an interruption?

My six minutes of speaking time was frequently interrupted because of interpretation issues. I saw that Ms. Rose had misunderstood, but I saw Ms. Schoepflin nodding. I would like to hear her opinion, in recognition of the interpretation problems. I'd like Ms. Schoepflin to have at least 15 or 20 seconds to respond.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

I appreciate your comments, Madame Larouche. I didn't interrupt you.

Ms. Schoepflin, if you want to go ahead for 30 seconds, please do so now, or you can send in responses in writing.

[Bénédicte Schoepflin]

Okay. I'll be brief, and I'll answer in French to make things easier.

Yes, I think that retirees need access to meaningful amounts of money as soon as possible to enable them to live properly. It's as simple as that, even if it seems simplistic. I can send you more details in writing if you'd like.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

Thank you very much for that.

Now we'll go to our second round of questions, starting with Ms. Roberts for five minutes.

Thank you.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses.

I want to state some numbers for all the witnesses to understand.

Inflation rose 2.4% in March, up 1.8% from the previous month. Gas prices are up 21.2%. Grocery prices are up 4.4%. Fresh vegetables are up 7.8%. We have the highest food prices in the G7, with 2.2 million people using food banks each month; 8.3% of food bank clients are seniors, up from 6.8%.

I'll start with Ms. Rose.

Could you please tell me how you feel this is impacting our seniors and their fixed incomes?

[Deborah Rose]

It's severely impacting their well-being. People are going about with less. There were some comments about human trafficking, and I think some seniors are feeling pressured and forced into this area to get some funds to survive. There is also food. Seniors are not driving their cars anymore. Many are sleeping in their cars because they do not have the financial resources even to be at the base level.

With the increases in rent and in food prices, we've seen a lot more theft, unfortunately. There's a higher risk of people getting caught stealing food.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Ms. Rose, I'm glad you brought up human trafficking. I recently did an undercover stint with police officers, pertaining to human trafficking. You're absolutely correct in stating that seniors are now being forced into human trafficking just to survive. Thank you for bringing that up.

Ms. Schoepflin, do you feel that the inflationary situation we are currently facing has a high impact on our seniors?

[Bénédicte Schoepflin]

Absolutely. It is leading people to cut down on food, and maybe they can skip their medicine. It is also leading people to enter living arrangements, perhaps in a shared setting that they would not have done otherwise. They may welcome somebody in to help them out, or they move into a different setting with other people, with roommates or new partners. This is a risk factor for people, because they might find themselves living with people who are taking advantage of them. Sometimes it starts off as helping or pretending to help, but then it devolves into abuse, control and further use of their financial resources.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Thank you for that response.

Ms. Estienne, one of the things I hear from the Liberal government is about all of these wonderful plans they have for seniors. If these plans are so wonderful, why are seniors still struggling on fixed incomes? What would you add to that?

[Loriane Estienne]

I think there's going to have to be genuine alignment and a genuine understanding of these people's financial reality, especially in a context where they're filling a caregiving role that comes with a lot of invisible costs. I think this is an invitation to reflect and work in a complementary and genuinely co-operative way to define policies that adequately and truly address the realities of seniors and senior caregivers.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Ms. Rose commented that seniors now have to share their incomes. I hear this a lot. Seniors say that they're trying to help their children because of the lack of income and the high inflation situation we are faced with in Canada. You mentioned shared income. Are you hearing a lot of that?

[Deborah Rose]

Yes, we are. As someone mentioned, we're finding that they are moving more people into their homes, or they have family members who aren't able to feed their children, their grandchildren. They are giving away their income out of fear, which leads to more mistreatment of seniors.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

Thank you very much.

We're now moving on to Ms. Ménard for five minutes.

Please go ahead.

[Marie-Gabrielle Ménard, Liberal, Hochelaga—Rosemont-Est, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to our experts for taking the time to prepare and be here this morning.

This study was put forward by our colleague Connie Cody, and it has really brought everybody together. MPs have shown a great deal of interest in this study, and it certainly shows that work is taking place across party lines on these important issues.

Ms. Schoepflin, I believe it was you who talked to us about the importance of working from data.

Even in this committee that's very solution-oriented, we sometimes hear that research funding is a misuse of public funds. Let me say at the outset that I disagree with that view.

What does data enable you to do? Is it the federal government's responsibility to support research?

[Bénédicte Schoepflin]

Basically, what counts is counted, I think, based on the expression, or what is counted counts. It works both ways.

In our experience, when we engage in discussions with the government, we're very often asked very specific questions about the data. We're asked what the percentages are for this and that, and when we can't give those percentages because they're unavailable, it's problematic.

It's a bit of a vicious circle. I think it's very important to have access to this disaggregated data, which enables us to understand, more or less, how those risk factors affect certain sections of the older population or how they manifest.

Right now, these people get discussed as if they were all the same, whereas seniors are human beings, all very different, with different life experiences and different prevention factors. To have tailored approaches that meet people's needs, then, we have to understand what those needs are and who we're addressing.

[Marie-Gabrielle Ménard, Liberal, Hochelaga—Rosemont-Est, QC]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Estienne, you proposed a very concise definition of caregiving, according to the Government of Quebec. We're here at the federal government. You may have highlighted the fact that Quebec's definition and Canada's don't match.

Given our role, it's certain that we're probably trying to come up with a definition that's consistent with all the provinces and territories, but I'm curious. Don't hold back.

What definition would you like to see at the federal level?

You talked about the need to adapt the definition.

Could you briefly shed some light on that?

[Loriane Estienne]

I think it will depend on the importance of having a common definition and a common understanding of what this role is and what its consequences are, in fact. I think it's really about aligning those things.

Now, I think that Canadians tend to associate this role of caregiver with the essential role of support staff, which is represented by paid professionals who provide care. In fact, what I wanted to do by introducing the Quebec definition was simply to represent the provision of unpaid and underpaid care. From the perspective of today's study, that's the point I wanted to make.

I also think there are federal and provincial benefits available for caregiving. In Canada, one in five people act as a caregiver, which has an impact on their lives. It's essential to perhaps draw inspiration from the Act to recognize and support caregivers, which was passed in Quebec. Work should be done together with experts who recognize this role on a daily basis.

However, I don't think there's a right or wrong definition, as long as we have a common language and recognize this reality and the impact it has on the people who play this essential role, which, I would point out, helps unclog our health care system.

[Marie-Gabrielle Ménard, Liberal, Hochelaga—Rosemont-Est, QC]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Rose, you have talked a lot about the devastating consequences of isolation for senior women.

Is there anything specific to senior indigenous women as a group?

What's unique to this group?

Do you see a potential solution that the federal government could target to close this gap a bit?

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

You're on mute, ma'am.

[Deborah Rose]

Create an opportunity for gathering information, data and resources on the floor with cultural acceptance, not through a mainstream way of gathering information. It's more about creating opportunities for more conversations versus....

Actually, I lost the question because I was on mute.