I will call this meeting to order. This is the 117th meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance. Our orders of the day are pursuant to the order of reference of Wednesday, June 13, 2012, and we are continuing our study of income inequality in Canada.
I want to welcome all of our witnesses joining us here this morning, and I will present them now.
First of all, we have Mr. Stephen Richardson, executive fellow from the University of Calgary. Welcome.
We have Professor Michael Veall, Department of Economics, McMaster University.
We have, from the Assembly of First Nations, Chief Executive Officer Mr. Peter Dinsdale. Welcome to the committee.
We have, from the Broadbent Institute, the chair and founder, Mr. Ed Broadbent. Welcome back to Parliament, Mr. Broadbent.
From the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, we have Madame Armine Yalnizyan. Welcome.
We are also welcoming Peggy Taillon, from the Canadian Council on Social Development, and Michel Venne, the Director General of the Institut du Nouveau Monde. Welcome.
And from the University of British Columbia, we have Madame Nicole Fortin.
Madame Fortin?
It's 5:45 a.m. in B.C., so she may have gone for a coffee.
We welcome all of you to the committee. We have a large panel today of very distinguished guests. Thank you for being with us.
Each of you will have a maximum of five minutes for an opening statement, and then we'll have questions from members.
We'll begin with Mr. Richardson's presentation, please.