Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My thanks to the minister for being here. That's very kind of her.
I would like to ask you a question that has two parts.
The Canada Revenue Agency's budget includes a $51-million adjustment in forecasted payments under the Children's Special Allowances Act. This is due to an increase in the per child benefit amount under the new Canada child benefit program, implemented in July 2016.
The Children's Special Allowances Act pays government money when children are held in the care of the state, so essentially, instead of the money going to the children, it actually goes to provincial governments and agencies. The state, though, seems to be a very poor type of parent, because I've met individuals who have been bounced around from foster family to foster family in my riding, up to 77 times. One individual I met last week was in over 100 foster families throughout his life, in 18 years, which is an incredible number.
I was just wondering why we give the money to the state. Why does it not go to these children who need it most, who don't have the social and family structures that many of us enjoy? Why do we give it to governments that really don't need it? Why not place it in a trust, so that these children—at some point in the future, when they turn 18 or 21—can access these funds to pay for education or for housing? Often, what happens is they end up in a homeless shelter, where I meet them, because they're kicked out of foster families when they turn 18 and they're not valuable to anyone anymore.
That is not to say there are not good foster families, but it seems we are doing a disservice to some of these children, and so I was wondering if your deputy ministers had any intention of looking at this and trying to understand what problems are related to this.
Then I just had one final question related to that. Could you give the number of people in the country who are actually using the Canada child benefit? Have all families applied? What is the penetration rate related to that program?