Thank you very much, and thanks for coming today.
I certainly agree with CPJ and Canada Without Poverty as they call for a national anti-poverty strategy. I was disappointed, as was Mr. Savage and, I would suggest, others in the committee, to hear the government's response to the United Nations' recommendation that we develop a national anti-poverty strategy. I thought that's what we were doing here. I'm open to being creative in how we do that. I really am. Foundations and communities can play a role. We've met with all kinds of really marvellous, committed, hard-working organizations across the country doing good things, but all of them calling for some national leadership so we can provide some equity across the country in terms of access to programs and support for children and seniors and all that kind of thing. We're trying to figure out how it is that we put that package together.
I have just a couple of questions, one for the foundations. I know from talking to folks in Toronto, the Recession Relief Fund Coalition—I don't know if you've heard of them or not—John Andras, that they're gathering people in the Toronto area. Susan has probably heard of them. Their concern is that a lot of the agencies doing good work depend on foundations for their funding and they're finding it difficult now because the foundations are running out of money; they're not getting the same donations, they're not generating the same return on investment, and that kind of thing. They suggested at one point that we had about a six-month window before a number of the agencies they speak for actually begin to have to cut back seriously or collapse altogether. Can you...?