Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if the hon. member knows this, as we have only recently come to know each other, but my history with seniors' issues goes back some 10 years. Having been involved in a policy process with the provincial party for many years and then, of course, as a member of Parliament and being appointed as the deputy critic for seniors' issues, I had the opportunity to not only meet with many seniors in my own riding, but with many seniors' organizations across the country.
For seniors housing has always been near the top of their list but also one issue that I hear quite often, as I know members in the House often do as well, is the issue of income splitting. Income splitting is where in the past one member of a traditional family household has decided to stay home to raise the children and take care of the home and the other spouse works and brings dollars into the household. If our seniors in particular were able to split that income, it would mean that they, on average, could have perhaps $3,000 to $4,000, even $5,000 more within their households a year. This is substantial and something that we should all continue to work together on.
I would also like to give a special thanks to a gentleman by the name of Dan Braniff, who is with the Georgian Bay chapter of CARP in my riding of Simcoe—Grey. He has done some significant work on this.