Thanks very much.
I'm very struck by the similarities in the presentations. I think that as the member of Parliament for Halifax, what I'm acutely aware of—and I know Mike Savage will agree—is that the Halifax metropolitan area has a thriving economy in which the prosperity is very evident, but what is also illustrated by your presentations, which are very accurate portrayals, is the fact that we have a growing gap between those who have and those who have not. Secondly, the poverty is actually deepening, particularly for people who have special challenges of one kind or another.
I want to just quickly start with Dan Wilson. I had an opportunity to attend a really marvellous kick-off of an economic development strategy by the Mi'kmaq first nation just a few weeks ago. The point was very clearly illustrated that we do have a good many new young graduates from various programs. Colin Dodds has spoken about the need to do more to support the Afro-Nova Scotian, the Mi'kmaq, the aboriginal Nova Scotian, and other special target groups, in terms of access to education and so on.
What was very clearly stated at that breakfast is that it appears the business community is at the table, the educational institutions are at the table, but the federal government is not. I'm wondering if you can speak specifically about that, in terms of what kinds of support the federal government needs to make in order to do exactly what Gerald Keddy has recognized as very important, and that is to take advantage of the newly educated, highly motivated young people to open up opportunities for first nations people in general.