Mr. Speaker, if that is their net income, their gross income must be around $35,000 or nearly $40,000. The average income of a family of four is almost $45,000. Therefore, those individual incomes are way above the national average for a family of four.
At any rate, I want to make one thing one thing clear. This government has no intention of tampering with old age security. All Liberal governments, and especially the present one, have always preserved the vested rights of senior citizens, and more particularly those received or accrued by people who have been contributing for at least 50 years. Through their contribution, they shaped Canada as we know it today. Everybody recognizes, as well as I do, the great efforts made by our senior citizens. Believe me, we are the first ones to look after the have-nots.
Once again, I hope the hon. member of the opposition understands there are 800,000 people on welfare or unemployment insurance in Quebec. All kinds of suggestions are being made to meet the needs of Quebecers and make our economy more efficient and create more jobs. But all I hear in this House is a condemnation of the government of Canada. I will send the ball back in his court and ask him, for example, what the experts did at the regional level.
In this matter, I listened to Quebec's Minister of Health who still has not made a decision on the problem of medical specialists who are needed in outlying regions. Pensioners come and see me to say that they need specialists. We have hospitals in Maria, Chandler and Gaspé. But no. Quebec's civil servants prefer to send them to Rimouski, Quebec City or even Montreal. Unfortunately, the Government of Quebec does not often respond to my constituents' real requests for social services and health services. Of course, this is provincial jurisdiction, but I say that it is wrong to blame the federal government, Mr. Speaker. Indeed, what do we hear very often? That it is the Government of Quebec, the member's head office, which does not meet Quebecers' real expectations and needs.