Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you for coming this morning and for sharing your expertise in the field. Personally, I admire what you do, having worked in the field of health and social services and on literacy. I'm going to start with some questions for Ms. DesBrisay.
Like you, we were astounded by the nature of the cuts announced. In fact, cuts were announced at the same time that a $13 billion surplus was announced. There is nothing wrong with cuts as such provided that they are justified and target programs that are not useful. However, we note that many of these programs are highly functional, they are meeting their mandate, and they are essential to the survival of work done by volunteer groups, namely in the field of literacy.
At present, what is the overall budget for literacy? What impact will the $17 million cut have on your work?
This morning, you witnessed our attempt to start an emergency debate on the topic—to my mind debating these matters is urgent—but it was refused. We wanted to hear people like you talk about it. Now that you are here, I would like to hear your comments.