Thank you very much for coming this morning. I would suggest--contrary to perhaps what the chair has suggested--that adoption fits into a wider context that needs to be addressed if we're going to fix some of the challenges that the system faces and that people face. And certainly changes to EI, as you suggested, would give you more time; that would be a good start.
The whole question of poverty is top of mind for me these days because we just tabled a report here that is actually quite exceptional in its scope and breadth and in the recommendations it made. I think it would go a long way to helping adoptive families look after their children, particularly those who are challenged with things like FASD.
We just had a report this morning by Campaign 2000 that suggests that one in ten children lives in poverty in Canada, and in fact one in four if you're aboriginal. We've been talking about this for quite some time now, but we really haven't got our heads around what we might do. Poverty is also a determinant of health. If you live in poverty, chances are you won't be well and chances are you won't be able to get the resources you need outside of the system. And even in the system it's difficult, particularly for such diseases as FASD.
Maybe you could talk to us a bit this morning about what you think we might be able to do on that front of making sure we're supporting families in a way that allows them to be healthy and be that forever family they want to be. Oftentimes it falls apart because of money, resources, finances, and that kind of thing.