Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll try to be as quick as I can.
First of all, I want to say that with the issue we are discussing today, nothing is new. I hate to say this, as it sounds cynical, but for me it's not new. I've done these hearings since 1994. We've started changing, to some degree. We had the child tax benefit, which went a certain way, and then we had the child care program, early education and child care. Of course, the issues in housing, education, and health have been around for a very long time.
The issues with respect to the aboriginal communities are not new, as Mr. Picard has very clearly stated. I accept the fact that we need to move on; otherwise, all of those things we've talked about and are discussing today, which are now being exacerbated by the economy, are not going to change.
I have a few questions, but I appreciate very much that they don't cover everything that's been said. I just wanted to say that.
My first question is to Madam Gauvin. I was speaking to some elected members of the Ontario government a week ago. They were telling me that they're starting to receive a lot of phone calls from women who are pregnant and are not being hired now or are being fired, or who are coming back from maternity and are being let go. There's this approach towards women in the labour force as a result of the economic downturn.
Are you finding this discriminatory practice picking up? Have you noticed it in your clientele and in your research? Is it something we need to be aware of? A lot of them are also single mothers, and that's another problem.