Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to thank all the witnesses. They have all shown us how important federal leadership is, especially as regards poverty among aboriginal peoples, as well as the importance of working with community organizations in the field, whether municipal or provincial. Ms. Milne also pointed this out.
We are talking about daycare, caregivers and violence, as well as education, which is under provincial jurisdiction. Education, which must be addressed in various programs, is important, but it is hard for either children or adults to succeed at school if they show up with an empty stomach, if they move several times per year, or if the people around them are dealing with job loss or mental health issues.
My first question is for Ms. McLachlan.
Thank you for your presentation. You demonstrated the depth of your commitment and also stressed that, in the committee's study on poverty, our analysis must not focus on individuals, since that necessarily leads to inappropriate decisions. You argued that we should take a systemic approach to poverty.
In this first topic of our study, we are looking at all income security programs. If I understand correctly, we must first establish the issue of rights.
Would one way of doing this be to include the criterion of social condition in the Canadian Human Rights Act?