For the past three-plus years I've been a member of Parliament, but prior to that I spent nine years as a city of Kelowna councillor. I worked with our social planning and housing committee, and I worked with all levels of government. We've invested more money in homelessness and affordable housing than any Canadian government. We still need all levels of government coming together, and we're working toward that strategy.
As I mentioned, for three-plus years I've been a member of Parliament. During that time I've been working on the international trade committee. We're trying to provide economic opportunities for Canadians across the country. As the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all ships. We're trying to give opportunities through skills retraining. Education, as we know, is the greatest opportunity for any individual to help themselves through to the opportunities that present themselves for future employment. There could be a variety of other issues, from mental health to medical issues. We're trying to coming up with a complex, holistic solution.
You mentioned 1979. If we go back to the early eighties and the early nineties, when the trade agreement was put into effect, and look at the correlation between how Canadians have fared over the last, say, 20 years, and....
You say in here that 80% of Canadians did not experience low income from 1999 through 2004. Is it reasonable to expand from this that for the last 20 years, 20% have been poorer than, or not as well off as, the other 80% of Canadians?
You also mention the fact that 40% went over one year. Is that the trend? Then you mention five years. Have you gone back even 15 years prior to that?