I'm going to echo what you're saying. Poverty is not about a lifestyle choice or a character flaw or poor budgeting; it's about low wages. It's about inadequate social supports. People want to work. People want to contribute. People have things they want to get done in their lives. They want to make sure their kids are safe and healthy and move well.
It's very clear that if you support people, they contribute. They keep those dollars in the economy and they keep the economy going.
We probably put out about $10 million in grocery gift cards so that people had that income to keep the economy going. When those grocery cards disappear, but they have income, it keeps the economy going.
We are signatories to an International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights around the right to food. It is our duty to respect, protect and fulfill the right to food. It is unconscionable to me that four and a half million of our fellow citizens, about 12% to 14%—
Look, if you look at that number, you see that if you're white, it's about 11%; if you're a new immigrant, it's about 17%; if you're black, it's 30%; if you're indigenous, it's about 30%. If you go north to Nunavut, it's over 50% of people who are food insecure.
We have a lot of work to do on this issue. I want to be really clear and underline this: It is not about charity. It's ensuring that people have good jobs that aren't precarious, so that they have good incomes and they can go home to a full fridge, not an empty fridge. The kinds of recommendations we're making here are about putting income in people's pockets, and then they spend it in their communities.