I'd like to address that. I'm speaking now for the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women.
We have done everything in our power. We have begged. We have sent request after request for funding for the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women for administration so we're not constantly writing proposals and waiting for the government to send us money.
We had a comment from a federal bureaucrat who said “We like to keep you hungry”. I was so shocked. I mentioned this to another bureaucrat, and he said “That's fascist”. That's what they are doing. They're keeping us hungry so we cannot participate as full citizens in this country.
I heard a brilliant man say that poverty is when you don't have any money. I also heard something that startled me. Senator Hugh Segal talked about having guaranteed income that would assure each citizen in this country enough money to live. Is that so radical an idea? Coming from Hugh Segal, I just about fell off my chair. We really have to open our minds to doing very creative and meaningful things for our people--all of our people.
Obviously the system is not working. For two decades there have been attempts to address poverty. I guarantee you that we have more poverty now than before. Our children are the ones who suffer. Yet it's all there before us. The question is, why aren't measures being taken to address that? When I was given the comment, “We like to keep you hungry”, that was so appalling.
In my presentation when I talked about self-government, self-determination, and all the things we talk about as a people, they really don't exist. I challenge every one of you to open your hearts and eyes to the pain that exists in this country, which shouldn't be there. There's no reason why it should be there. There are enough resources and untapped potential in first nations, Métis, and Inuit people, as well as the new immigrants who are coming in and Canadians who have been here. We have it all, but we haven't been making good use of our resources and our attention.
Thank you.