Thank you, Mr.Chairperson.
First of all, I would suggest to Steven Fletcher that he take a little trip across the tracks in Winnipeg and go north and witness a community that has a very high number of aboriginal people who have access to almost no recreation facilities.
Point Douglas, the poorest and oldest neighbourhood in Canada, has no pool because it's shut down. It doesn't work. This government, like the previous federal government, wouldn't contribute part of the infrastructure funds or allocate specific infrastructure dollars for programs like that.
The North Winnipeg YM-YWCA has been shut down for over 10 years, and there was no help from this government or the previous government.
Mr. Chairperson, I would suggest that if this government is serious about dealing with the health needs of aboriginal children, it would look at family income and realize that we are talking about relatively low incomes, many of which are so low that the families don't pay taxes, yet they are being hit daily with programs that give higher benefit for higher incomes.
I would ask officials here--I would love to ask Mr. Fletcher, but I'll have to wait for another chance--why you haven't made recommendations to make sporting equipment purchases eligible under the credit. Why isn't there a recommendation to transform the tax credit into a refundable tax credit to reach low-income populations? The children's fitness tax credit does not meet the needs of low-income Canadians, particularly aboriginal and Métis and Inuit children and families, so why not expand the tax credit to make participation in non-organized sports and fitness programs part of this program? That's one question.
The other question is whether you could tell me if you have $1 million to help open the North Winnipeg YM-YWCA, which would serve a lot of aboriginal people and help prevent obesity. Would you agree to a percentage or to adding money to the infrastructure program to provide for those needs? That's one question.
The other question has to do with advertising. I've listened carefully to what's been said today, and I don't know whose responsibility this is, but I think we need to start looking at a different model in terms of advertising that affects children and teenagers. It should be along the lines of the Quebec model and along the lines of our committee recommendation. If it's not the responsibility of the CRTC, then is it the responsibility of government? Whose responsibility is it to bring forward a form of restriction on advertising targeted to children to deal with the fact that children and young people are now being bombarded with junk food advertisements?
I don't think anybody can deny that, no matter what code we've got. If you turn on the TV, kids are watching news. They're watching family programs and not just children's programs. They are being inundated--bombarded--with junk food advertisements, and the foods most frequently marketed to kids and their parents are energy-dense or high-fat foods. So is it not time we had a much more regulated model and actually restricted advertisement that has such damaging consequences?
I don't know how much time I have left, but could I get answers on both questions?