Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question and for his concerns for seniors in this country. It is true that although we have a very low level of poverty among seniors, less than 5% and we are proud of that, there are some who do struggle.
As I mentioned earlier, we have brought in a number of measures to assist such individuals. The OAS and GIS already provide an income level for seniors that is slightly above the low income cut-off level in our country. In addition, there are programs to assist them in maintaining their homes and, to some degree, retrofitting them for special needs.
These programs, OAS and GIS, already contribute $33 billion a year to our seniors and we continue to monitor those levels. There was an increase in GIS in 2006 and the amount of GIS also rises each time the cost of living increases every quarter.
We will monitor this issue and I thank my colleague for raising it.