Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
For the record, Mr. Chair, I want to reinforce the fact that Canada has doubled its aid to Africa since we took government. We have also done the most important thing, of untying our aid. That allows far more efficient use of the money so that more help can go to emerging economies, developing countries, and putting more money into the hands of organizations to purchase vaccines at the best possible prices so that more people can be assisted. In the past, when our aid was tied, fewer people could get access to vaccinations because of the cost. That's important for Canadians to know.
Mr. Brohman, we had as a witness a couple of weeks ago, a gentleman by the name of Hernando de Soto. I don't know whether you're familiar with his work.
I'm glad you are. I don't have to give you a synopsis of it.
One of the most important things he talked about was property rights, and how emerging economies have such difficulty because people who want to be entrepreneurs are extralegal; they're outside the legal boundaries. He talked about that in light of the people, entrepreneurs, who are setting up shops and don't have access to capital because they don't have any assets in real property.
My question is about these artisans you are assisting. Haiti is having a very difficult time with property rights—as in real property and the ownership of property—and their judicial system is also very limited at this point. How are you protecting them?
If I could just add another question: how many women are part of these artisan groups?
And in helping these people become profitable, how are you then taking pressure off the aid that needs to go into these countries for the future?
Those are a lot of questions.