Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.
I have a lot of questions, so I'll get started. But first, CHRA, I'm so glad to hear you are in support of a national housing strategy. I'm sure you'll be interested in Bill C-304, a private member's bill that's actually calling for a national housing strategy.
My first set of questions is actually for Mr. Porter, and I agree the Kothari report gets it right. We need a rights-based housing strategy, and in 1976, as you know, we signed on to the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, saying that there's a right to housing in Canada. But I've yet to see that right exist in Canada, actually written into any legislation. We are already in a national housing emergency, so here we are.
But my question is about your work with CERA and specifically your work with tenants, because we're getting stories from folks—we're part of this task force on the recession and we're talking to Canadians about what's going on, how the recession is hitting them. We're getting stories about EI and housing: the effect of the two-week wait period, people not able to pay their rent and being evicted; more women, temporary workers, and part-time workers being impacted. So I'm wondering if you have any insights from CERA's perspective on what's going on with this issue.