I have to say that I'm not quite sure I'm familiar with what you're talking about. But the deputy minister says that if you want officials to brief the committee on what we are doing on market basket measure--if that's what you're asking; I'm not quite sure, Tony--we'd be happy to do that.
In general, we don't have an official measure of poverty in Canada. But I think the market basket measure has a lot to commend it, because obviously an income of $1,500 in a rural part of the country typically goes a lot further than it does in downtown Toronto.
I think costs are an important part of the calculation when you figure out what people's real standard of living is. I think a market basket measure has a lot to commend it when you're trying to figure out, first of all, how many people are struggling, and secondly, whether or not you're making progress in helping people get out of poverty.