Thank you so much, John.
I'm delighted to be here this afternoon, and thank you very much.
The Canadian Association for Community Living is very much encouraged by the work of your committee. We appreciate and honour the work you do and the focus you have on the importance of inclusion for individuals with disabilities and their families in Canada.
CACL appeared before this committee when you were involved in the hearings on poverty, and we're delighted to be here today to be able to have an opportunity to speak with you more specifically about the issues facing people who live with disabilities and their families.
As John said, we'd also like to return the favour and invite you to join us this evening at the Delta at 6:45 as we celebrate the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Canada's ratification of that convention.
We were honoured to be at the UN to participate in the ratification of the convention on March 11. This convention provides both the starting point and the scope of exploring efforts required to make full inclusion of people with disabilities in our country a reality.
I will now turn it over to Laurie Beachell to continue with more specific remarks.
Thank you, Madam Chair.