Status of Women committee  That's a huge question. Let me address the issue. It surprised us when we started to hear that men were not necessarily designating their wives as the beneficiaries. Information should be provided, like the blitz the federal government did educating people about applying for the

Status of Women committee  Yes, we do think it should be, because depending on the level of the CPP.... You're referring to the CPP, I assume.

Status of Women committee  One person doesn't live that much more cheaply than two. You have to pay for accommodation, and rents and costs are high. So if survivor benefits were higher, you would move people out of a low level of income, out of the risk of poverty. But of course many people living in pover

Status of Women committee  When we referred to aboriginal people, we were thinking of both on reserve and off reserve. I have lived in Winnipeg, I have lived in Montreal, and I've lived in Toronto. Many aboriginal people are in desperate straits in the urban centres, as they are in the remote reserves. On

Status of Women committee  Would you please look at the issue of aboriginal families, their poverty levels, the social issues they are dealing with? It seems to us that aboriginal women, who do live longer than aboriginal men, even though both have a shorter lifespan, have a huge burden, because many of th

Status of Women committee  I think we are. We think we are. We think they are at great risk given the difficulties that people are increasingly facing in the labour market. We are getting a higher percentage of marginal workers than we've had before. We've got contract work, low-income work, part-time work

Status of Women committee  For years we have called for a pharmacare program. Seniors are lucky because they have the benefit of drug protection when they are older, although it doesn't cover all the drugs they need. We say pharmacare is essential. The more benefits people can receive by paying into the pl

Status of Women committee  No, we were not invited. We participated in the Ontario Pension Commission.

Status of Women committee  The self-employed are often low-income people. They're often there not by choice but by necessity. If you have a low income and you make some payment into the CPP, it is a significant amount of money. You're right: if the employer and employee are both contributing, it's deferred

Status of Women committee  I think it is a very good beginning. The contributions to the CPP were revised. I pointed out that you're clearly in poverty if you're eligible for GIS. So anything that would increase that I would fully support. Please remember that there are people who don't pay into the CPP a

Status of Women committee  The government decided, in its wisdom, many years ago when the RRIFs were brought in that given the fact that there were tax benefits that came along for people who had the money to contribute, there would be an end point to it, because the goal was not to preserve assets for inh

Status of Women committee  It was to us.

Status of Women committee  I think it should be looked at, given the changing demographics and the huge growth in that older population.

Status of Women committee  I'm sorry, I didn't bring that material with me. One of the key things to remember is that the 25% of $47,000 is very small. Yes, if you move to half of $47,000, it's higher. On the other hand, if you start at 60 and keep indexing over the longer term, we think that would be mo

Status of Women committee  The one on the index? Yes.