Thank you very much.
Thank you very much for coming here today.
It's our pleasure, as well as our obligation, to be here and to understand what's happening in this community. It's been very illuminating, at least inside, so far.
I want to start off with Mr. Dougherty. Twenty years ago, when Parliament adopted the goal of eliminating child poverty by 2000, I don't think there were as many faith-based groups involved in that as there are now. It's my experience that there's been a resurgence of the faith-based communities being involved in the issue of poverty. And not just in Canada. You mentioned KAIROS.
If you look at the work of the churches you mentioned here in Whitehorse involved in social justice issues, and if you look at the Catholic Church through Development and Peace, the United Church through the Micah Challenge, the Anglican Church through the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund, and the international effort as well, I think there's a big, big role for faith communities to play.
This is only theory, but based on my experience in my own community—I'm from Nova Scotia—I think for some time there was sort of a sense that faith-based groups almost weren't.... I wouldn't say they weren't welcomed, but they weren't seen as equal partners in the fight against poverty, that they came at it from a faith-based angle that seemed a little bit out of touch with a secular society, which I think we've turned around now.
And I think there's a huge potential. We heard yesterday in Vancouver from a number of church organizations that were doing work that you're doing—interdenominational, multi-denominational poverty groups—and I think there's a big, big role for groups like yours to play. I said at the Social Forum in Calgary that I think one of the keys in getting an anti-poverty plan adopted by the government—not just by this committee but by the government—is people who don't consider themselves activists. People who go to church on Sunday and see it as their obligation to their Creator to actually do something for others don't think of themselves as activists. They do get involved in certain issues—same-sex, for example, and I heard from lots of people who disagreed with my view on civil marriage, and I'd tell them, “Now, get involved politically. Get involved politically in the fight against poverty.” We've seen what it can do through Make Poverty History. And these white bands show that there is a big network. I encourage you to be involved.
Now, I just wonder if you have any thoughts on the specific role of faith-based organizations.