I would like to give you a few specific examples to give you inspiration.
As MPs, we are all asked to contribute to Christmas hampers during the holiday season. We distribute food to those who are less fortunate than us. We all do it and we do so in good faith.
I will always remember one occasion where we went to deliver a Christmas hamper to a family that didn't even have a refrigerator or an oven. I have been in politics for eight years. So it happened when I was a provincial MNA, not a federal MP. I wondered what the point was of giving these poor people a huge turkey or a huge steak, when they didn't even know what to do with it.
It led me to take the following action. In provincial ridings, MPs have a very high discretionary budget, around $80,000. I had been to the food banks to say that I was ready to help them, but that I wanted them to use my money to hire a nutritionist who would give courses in the communal kitchens every week. In those classes, people would actually be taught how to cook. That would be better than giving them a frozen turkey that they wouldn't know what to do with and that might end up in a landfill in March.
There's something else I want to tell you, but I don't want to say exactly at what point it happened in my political career. I remember that a completely destitute woman came to see me. We tried to help her. She lived in Sainte-Foy, and I lived in Loretteville, about 20 minutes away by car. I had told her that this worked out well and told her which bus to take from her house to come and see me. She answered that that wouldn't be necessary because a taxi was waiting at the door. This poor woman had paid $30 to take a taxi and she had been with me for half an hour. So she probably had to pay $150 for the taxi. She didn't understand. That's when I said to myself, for Heaven's sake, even if we gave her money, I'm not sure it would help.
That's why I think if we want to help people get out of poverty, we need to give them the tools necessary to take control of their own lives.
As for the food strategy, are you in favour of the idea of helping food banks? The government could support these people by offering classes led by nutritionists, who would teach them how to eat well and how to cook properly. What do you think?