Government Operations committee  I will not answer that exactly. However, I will say there are a lot of services and partnerships in Quebec. You have probably heard of the "senior-friendly municipality" initiative, which is specific to Quebec. Under that initiative, municipalities that adapt their services to se

Government Operations committee  You talked about cutting postal services?

Government Operations committee  In December 2013, it was announced that cuts would be made to home delivery service. At the national assembly of the AQDR, we said no to that. We conducted a campaign with our members, and there was a general outcry. We absolutely did not agree with that.

Government Operations committee  Yes.

Government Operations committee  Yes, I know the percentage. Approximately 76% of seniors live at home, and the others live in private residences, use intermediate resources, and are in CHSLDs or in places where there is more security.

Government Operations committee  Yes.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Godbout will begin and then I will speak.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Godbout said it in his way, but I have the same opinion. This makes no sense. We should therefore rank services from the most important to the least and make cuts at the lowest level. I say no to that approach. This is part of the continuum of public services. We have to rat

Government Operations committee  For people who are isolated, the arrival of the letter carrier who brings the mail to their door may be a source of hope and a human presence. Without being a local social worker, a letter carrier may observe things incidentally, notice an abnormal situation in the home, and repo

Government Operations committee  I am going to answer your first question on the rural regions. That is a timely question. Over the past two days, we have had a meeting in Rivière-du-Loup with people from across Quebec. Some of them, who came from a rural region, told us that the closing of a post office in a r

Government Operations committee  We think that twice a week would be quite good. Once a week is not enough because, in some instances, staements and bills are delivered. As previously mentioned, some people do not use the Internet. If they receive their mail only once a week, they may miss bill payment dates. Tw

Government Operations committee  You are entirely right in saying that not all seniors stay at home and are trapped there. However, the fact remains that some of them are because they suffer from chronic illness and are older or less able to get out.

Government Operations committee  Yes, you are right.

Government Operations committee  Yes, that could be a solution, but not with medical certification. I think that is unacceptable. We are afraid that might create various classes of seniors. It must be understood that we are all aging. At some point, it will be our turn, and we will become more vulnerable.

Government Operations committee  Something like that, sir.