Somebody had mentioned stimulus. We all know that there was this big stimulus budget in January, but it's very telling that all the investments for those who might be considered in need are temporary. The social housing, the extension of EI benefits--those were temporary benefits, whereas all the tax cuts that came in, which disproportionately benefited those in need...those are permanent. The problem is that creates a structural deficit that's going to make it even harder for the government to shake loose money that should be shook loose. In fact, the Minister of Human Resources couldn't wait to make an announcement after the budget to reinforce that this was a one-time government investment in social housing. It did not represent a policy shift to a larger federal role in social housing. We don't have a housing strategy in Canada. We need a national housing strategy.
Charlotte, you were talking about lone-parent families. I'm going to quote from Campaign 2000's report of last week:
While some progress has been achieved, female-led lone parent families carry a disproportionately high burden, with a child poverty rate of 40%--2007 LICO before-tax. Lone mothers face the challenge of being the sole provider while also having to find adequate child care and secure housing, which are often unaffordable. They also struggle to balance education or training, community service, and/or paid work with family responsibilities.
Did you say that 73% of lone-parent aboriginal families live below the LICO? Is that the number you gave?