Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'd like to begin by thanking all our witnesses for being here to enlighten us on this issue. I think it's something that we don't often think about and it's not super-obvious, but once you do think about it, it becomes really obvious. You guys have shed light on that situation.
As a past teacher, I hear about how many kids are possibly missing school because of this. That, in particular, really touches me very much, and it makes it really hard to hear and to come to the reality that this is as big a situation as it is.
Part of the community I represent has a lot of needs financially, and I can only imagine that buying these products is not at the top of their lists when they can barely feed their families in some weeks and some months.
I also think there's a lot of stigma attached to this issue, as you guys have mentioned, and because of that, I'm sure we have no idea of the real number of people who need these products and can't afford them. There are a whole bunch of issues that we need to dive into.
You guys have all given some potential solutions, and also the problems that are associated with each one. Obviously a huge number are required, because people menstruate for a week every month. That means they need to change these products often enough, and it's not enough to just have products that are not reusable.
Madeleine Shaw, you spoke about using Canadian innovation and about using Canadian businesses and women-led businesses—in many instances, it's often women-led businesses that would create these kinds of products—in order to fill that gap and perhaps come up with a solution or work with government on one.
Can you elaborate a little bit on what that would look like, and how the Government of Canada can help in that regard?