Thank you very much for that question.
We feel that, again, there's a term that's being recognized around the table, “holistic and comprehensive approaches”, that recognize the full range of health, social, and economic needs of people living in poverty. In that way, if those broad areas are addressed, then we can create a foundation on which to build economic security, given that there's a job market available to the person.
Probably more important is the need to balance the inequity and disparity that comes with capitalism by providing social programs and initiatives. The federal government really should be working with Canadians to devise a progressive tax system that enables the implementation of social programs. We really do need a paradigm shift in our collective thinking. Many of us realize this.
Certainly poverty is created by policies. Federal and provincial policies create and maintain women and all low-income Canadians in poverty. Through education policies, people end up with high student loans, which prevents people from getting education and prevents people from paying off student loans. People are very reticent to make that huge investment when there's a poor job market.
Employment insurance is shrinking. Eligibility for people in precarious employment is shrinking every day. Social assistance policies obviously do not provide adequate support—we've had a lot of talk about that—and certainly pension policies have an effect. The Canada pension plan is geared to someone who has a lifelong connection to the workforce, someone who is not taking time out to look after children or for elder care.
These programs need to be strengthened to recognize the diversity of our experience and needs, rather than just presuming everyone is going to work nine to five for 47 years, or whatever the time is.