Thank you, Emily.
Once again, thank you for having us here today.
I don't intend to read this particular document to you as a brief. It was provided to you in advance. I'm sure you either have had or will have the chance to read it, and I hope you use it in your own reports and in your activities apart from this committee.
I'll take you back to the first page. Looking at the titles there, we start with “Child poverty in the Canadian context” because of course child poverty is what affects us as teachers on a daily basis. Of course, child poverty is really just an extension of poverty throughout the entire country. We do, though, see working with children as being a joint responsibility of the federal government, the provincial government, and even organizations like ours to help build the future. That joint responsibility is the focus that we want to put on that particular section of this report.
Moving into the second page, the focus you'll see in there is the feelings, the sensitivities, and why we're saying we're losing some of our best and our brightest in this country. When a child is afraid to tell his mother he needs gym shoes because he knows the family simply can't possibly afford gym shoes, what other effects does that have on the child? Obviously, lots. I'm sure that in a very competitive global economy the federal government is as concerned as we are about losing the potential that's there, and that's a concern we're prepared to work on with you.
The call to action on the next page makes very clear to you that we're not abdicating responsibility but pleading for help for all the children in poverty in this country. As Emily said, we were quite gratified in looking at the guidance for witnesses and the focus this committee has already taken, the sincerity of the work; and the willingness to work together for common goals is noted, appreciated, and wonderful, because it does require the participation of everybody.
There are some particular areas in there, and this is picked up on in that page as well. The aboriginal groups and the immigrant groups would be prime examples of where clearly there's a larger federal responsibility than a provincial responsibility in meeting their needs. Clearly, responses are required from the federal government in those areas. Once again, a good place to start is with the youth and looking at school classes across this country, how they're composed, and how you can reach out from that way.
Page 4 acknowledges that the federal government is helping right now. We note in there that it would be at least 10% worse without the current federal government intervention. That is a good tribute. However, when you look at the fact that even with that intervention we're just holding even, we're not moving ahead, clearly we need to do more. We need to reach out and we need to work together more.
We also noted in your guidance sheet that this committee has already seen the benefits of a federal response. When you're looking at the U.K., Ireland, or New Zealand, you've already seen some of the possibilities out there and the benefits from working together.
The last page is worth spending just a couple more minutes on, starting with the National Council of Welfare cornerstones: vision, a plan of action, accountability structure, and indicators to measure four key cornerstones they bring forward that we strongly support and believe in. You see our recommendations below that would fit and tie right into that.
What is really significant below is that everything there grows from commitment. Once you develop the will, then there is a way to reach the goals. When you look at the goals and the recommendations there, it probably requires cross-ministry work, so it probably can't be pigeonholed into any single federal department. It probably needs to be looked at as a project with targeted goals that can be reached and achieved and built on. It probably needs to work from the existing programs that are out there and build on the success that has already been achieved. It probably needs to target education, and particularly education for those groups that are federal responsibilities, the aboriginal groups, the immigrant groups. And it probably needs to involve partners that haven't always traditionally been involved.
When I look across this table at the groups that are here to talk to you today, I think about the ability of these groups to identify needs and to identify the effects of efforts as they are being implemented. I think about these groups and their ability to communicate and to extend the reach of the federal government. I cannot emphasize too much that if the commitment is there, the way is there, and the people are here ready to help you.
Thank you.