Thank you, Chair.
Ladies, I have nothing to say except that I am absolutely overwhelmed by what I just heard from all four of you. What can we say except that it's wonderful, particularly in the case of those of you who have actually lived adoption as adopted children and now want to give back. This is just wonderful. In the face of so much adversity--I'm listening to Madam Kowalko and the other ladies as well--and so many problems, you've developed the flexibility and the pragmatism and everything else to accept what is going on in the children, and yet bring the children to another level.
To say congratulations is such a weak, paltry word in the face of what you have lived through and what some of you are still living through in an everyday situation.
Really, Madam Kowalko, you didn't really need to bring a picture to us. The portrait all four of you have drawn of the difficulties but I think also of the joy you have had and the joy you have certainly brought to those children really speaks for itself. So thank you very much for all the work you've done.
We sit in Parliament, and we try to think about legislation, but in the end we look at you and people like you who have done so much work. It makes me—I'll speak for myself—feel small in the face of what you have lived through and have chosen to live through every single day. So all I can say is thank you.
But I'm also going to go back to my job as a legislator. You want Canadians to have a better-informed idea of what adoption is about and the problems that you would meet through adoption, and of course I come to the rule of the federal government. Many of the things you have suggested seem to my mind to be in the realm of the provincial government's responsibility, but quite a lot of them also should be taken on in a very constitutional way by the federal government.
Madam Haire, several of your recommendations touched the federal government and agencies of the federal government in a very concrete way. But I'd like to hear from everyone. When you've come into contact with the federal government over adoption, what has been lacking? Be specific. What would you like to see to fill in this lack, to make it better for those people who are going to be coming after you? Be as specific as you possibly can. My question is addressed not to one person but to all four of you.