Terrific. Thanks very much.
Mr. Chair, members of the committee, my thanks to you for the opportunity to appear and add my comments to your ever-growing knowledge base on the issue of poverty.
As you no doubt know already, the issue of poverty in Canada is complex. It involves multiple jurisdictions, circumstances, solutions, and preventive measures. Over the past several decades, respective Canadian governments have spent billions on this issue, yet poverty continues to exist in Canada. I think we all need to ask ourselves the question, why? That's why we're here today.
Collectively, endless administrations at all three levels of government have made attempts to resolve this issue. We have indeed made progress on several fronts, but there are still a number of families and other individuals who currently live in poverty. As you know, Canada does not have a true definition of poverty. We often use the low-income cut-off, or LICO, or the market basket measure. Frankly, I don't know that those families who are living in poverty really care which measure we use, rather that we are addressing the issue itself.
In recent years, there's been a trend to name child poverty instead of poverty as a pressing social concern. While all poverty, in particular children in poverty, is a tragedy, child poverty would be more aptly named family poverty. Children are, after all, poor only if their family is as well.
We also know that the effects of poverty go beyond mere money and income. Among other sources, Statistics Canada reports that the effects of poverty on children have many detrimental outcomes, including on health--both physical and mental--education, development, and behavioural disorders. There is also a higher probability that as adults, those children will grow up living in poverty as well. Addressing these needs lowers other life barriers as well.
Let me preface my next remarks by recognizing that there are those who will require society's assistance, some more than others. Unfortunately, there are those who are physically or mentally unable to adequately care for themselves.
I believe I am my brother's keeper and that society has an obligation to assist where it must.