Finance committee  Well, actually we anticipated that question. It's always “How are we going to pay for those kinds of asks?” If you're going to lift every senior out of poverty, it's $1 billion to $2 billion. A caregiver support system might be another $1 billion. So where is it going to come fro

Finance committee  Yes, we would certainly support an increase.

Finance committee  I have to agree with you entirely. We already spend $192 billion in our health care system. I think we can do better, rather than spending more money there. While we worry about whether or not the aging population is driving up health care costs, in fact it is the cost of all of

Finance committee  There are a lot of opportunities. Retirement homes can certainly be marketing to seniors much more than in the past. All of these opportunities are there. It is a major opportunity.

Finance committee  No, I'm not really sure I know what you're talking about.

Finance committee  Since you asked, we made a point of looking at all the election platforms of all the parties, and we kept a copy so that we can follow up with each of the parties. In terms of a number of issues, we can see that your party focused, as all the parties did during this election, on

Finance committee  You're absolutely right. The population worldwide is aging, as is Canada's population, and that provides opportunities. There are challenges, but there are also major opportunities. For example, people will be able to keep working. Many people do not see age 60 or 65 as the end o

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  Well, I'll qualify that. I would support it, but let me explain the qualifications. First of all, on the voluntariness, research indicates that if you make it mandatory enrolment with an opt-out, which nets out as voluntary, you have net greater uptake. In fact the insurance ind

Finance committee  Absolutely. In our written submission I highlighted those proposals and changes. On some of those proposals, the cheques are already in the mail. We certainly appreciate that. Our members, when asked about these proposals, were very supportive of the changes. They focus on issues

Finance committee  We have 350,000 members across the country. By the way, we speak with them all the time. A magazine goes to them, and we have a newsletter that goes to every household.

Finance committee  Thank you very much for that.

Finance committee  Thank you. The studies we have looked at in terms of the amount of money that you would spend in home care versus in the acute care system vary, depending on the degree of disability or infirmity. The savings range from 40% to 75% of the cost of full-time care in acute care or

Finance committee  Absolutely. Yes, and that's if you have a light-care situation where people can't manage on their own. If they get into heavy care in the formal system, you'd be spending 75% more. Obviously, if you have a chronic care or chronic disease situation, then of course you're going to

Finance committee  Thank you very much. CARP is a national, non-profit, non-partisan association. We have 350,000 members in 50 chapters across the country. We advocate for public policy changes that will improve our quality of life as all Canadians age. A top priority for us, of course, is our r