Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Following the last speaker, I would say that, as to the budgets and programs that we choose to fund, we as parliamentarians are all concerned that these are public funds and that our role is to represent all taxpayers. I was aware of this responsibility as a municipal councillor and I am aware of it here now as an MP.
Ladies and gentlemen, having been in your position before, I know that, in this regard, we see much more what it costs not to take action to fight poverty and to live in a society without full employment. We do hope, however, to see full employment one day so that everyone can enjoy a good quality of life and the self-esteem that comes from having a job. We hope that all citizens can make a contribution to our society, but we are not there yet. At this time of transition, I think we need to take action so we can get there.
Mr. Hughes, you said that in order to reduce poverty or to completely eliminate it in certain groups we need to set objectives for the next five years rather than the next ten years. You also said that, in order to measure progress on our objectives, data and frequent analysis of that data are important. I would like to hear more about that specifically.