Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for being here, and thank you to your team.
I know there's no blueprint, really, for the work you've been doing from a pan-Canadian perspective. It's the first time a government has put forward a national plan like this to tackle something that's not new.
You know, I worked on an anti-racism plan for Ontario. We noticed that, from about 2012, even the national numbers were increasing in that time period. There was a trajectory shift at that point in 2012. We've seen a constant rise in hate crimes. We always tried to figure that out. Was it because we weren't collecting the data properly? There was no standardization in how reports came in. I know the RCMP has changed some of its methods of collecting that type of data. It is tough work because there is no blueprint, and because it is new work.
Thanks to you and your department for the work you're doing.
I've always looked at it like this: Fighting racism isn't only a moral imperative. There's also an economic side to it. You started to talk about that. There's a cost to standing still and not doing anything. As Canadians, we need to look for ways to remove barriers, so we can unleash the power of our people. That's one piece of why we're trying to tackle racism.
Can you take a minute to talk about some of the economic pieces within the plan that may target the indigenous community, the Black community and Canadians as a whole? It may target, for example, the Black community, but the benefits are for all Canadians. We all benefit. When the next-door neighbour is doing well, you're doing well. Can you talk a little about the economic aspirations of this plan, and about some of the success stories within the past work that is connected to this current plan?