Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you to all of our witnesses for joining our committee today and for helping us study this very important topic.
Mr. Hetherington, I'd like to start with you.
The figures you've presented to our committee we are all somewhat familiar with, but to hear you repeat them in such a concise and ordered way is a very damning indictment of the state of our country and what too many Canadians are going through on a day-to-day basis.
I was especially struck by the figures you relayed to us that showed the increase in the number of Canadians who have full-time employment but who are relying on food banks to make it through month by month. If there is a more damning indictment of the state of our economy than the fact that someone is working full time and trying their best to make as much income as they can but they're still reliant on food banks, I don't know what it is. When you compare that with some of the profits that are being felt in some segments, that's quite a damning indictment.
You mentioned several times during your opening statement the concept of a right to food. In Canada of course we have our rights enshrined in the charter. One of my colleagues is attempting to bring legislation to the House on enshrining a right to a healthy environment. When you talk about a right to food, you've given some examples in terms of policy and through income supports about how we could support people, but do you ever see this right to food being enshrined in legislation? Has that ever been something you've discussed? Could you expand on that topic a bit?