Welcome and thank you for the information you're giving us.
I am quite familiar with cooperatives. In the course of my life, I have had the opportunity, with other people, of course, to establish housing cooperatives, food cooperatives and funeral cooperatives. I've also gone on cooperative development missions in Latin America, in particular. I have a great deal of respect for the work you are doing because it's not always easy. You have to deal with a very restrictive situation.
I listened to you very carefully this morning when you proposed a measure requesting that the provinces account for the transfer payments made for social housing. That's the first measure suggested by the two of you. What somewhat surprised me is not the fact that the provinces should account to the public on how they spend their money, but that you've made it a priority.
Among your reasons for making that proposal, did you consider the fact that the federal government withdrew from subsidizing the provinces for 10 years? From 1992 to 2001, the government made no further transfers, or very few. It did not resume its transfer payments until 2001. Did you consider the fact that, for two decades now, a housing vacancy rate of less than 3% is considered a problem for the least well-off in our society? There are 12 municipalities in my riding, and none of them has a housing vacancy rate over 3%. There's even one where the rate is 0%.
During the time the federal government was not contributing to social housing development, it was the provinces that bore that responsibility in part, thus resulting in deficits for themselves, whereas the federal government used its savings to pay off its debt. From the moment the federal government starts to contribute again, it should automatically return a portion of that money to the Consolidated Revenue Fund. Did you consider that aspect? That's my first question.
I'm not defending the position of the provinces, but I think enough money has to be invested in social housing. You must properly respect what has happened and take that into account. The provinces have borne nearly 50%, sometimes three-quarters of the amounts the federal government did not contribute.
In view of the lack of time we have at our disposal, I'm going to ask a second question on the impact of the measures you've proposed. Ms. Markell and Mr. Porter told us that there wasn't just one poverty measure, but several. There are child care centres, of course, transfer payments and employment insurance, in particular. We are going to examine all these measures very seriously with a view to making our recommendations in the House.
In a time of economic crisis, what measure would have the greatest short-term impact on poverty? You may state one measure each.