Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Stapleton, I would like to thank you personally for your testimony in regards to employment insurance reform. According to the figures you supplied us, 22% of Toronto residents receive EI benefits. These figures are dramatic. How can we call this an insurance? It is a measure that only protects a few people. I did not have a specific question to ask you. I wanted only to thank you for having said this, because it is very important. These are figures that I did not previously have.
Mr. Melatti, I did not quite understand when you said that there was a big difference between the provincial and the federal assistance schemes. If I am not mistaken, there would be less money to alleviate poverty among children because of duplication and other problems between the two jurisdictions.
Could you explain in greater detail your comments regarding relations between the federal and the provincial governments? Obviously, what we are interested in, is what the federal input might be. Perhaps you could clarify for us the role of the federal government in regards to your ideas to lift children out of their poverty.