Mr. Chair, in many cases, women stay at home to raise their families. In these cases, they are not able to contribute to a pension plan. They have no private pension plan to pay into.
A supplementary pension plan would provide Canadians, women in particular, with the opportunity to have income in their retirement years and not just CPP or GIS. They would have access to the kind of income that would enable them to live comfortably and to provide for themselves and not live in poverty. That is an issue certainly for all Canadians, and particularly for women, but for seniors overall.
No one wants to see a senior living in poverty. Today, by and large, with an annual income of $15,000, they are trying to make ends meet. They are trying to heat their homes and buy medication. That is impossible to do on an income of $15,000 and live comfortably as well.
In a lot of cases we are talking about seniors with an income of maybe $15,000 per person or $30,000 a couple. When one of those individuals dies, the spouse is left behind with all the expenses of running a home but with a much reduced income.