Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the witnesses for appearing this morning. My questions are going to be predominantly to Diane Redsky.
You say that it takes all day to be poor. I was a former high school teacher and taught a lot of aboriginal kids. I mentioned before that I didn't see them as being any different from my regular students. They were all my students and they all are human beings. I would say it's really easy to treat people as equals when you see each person as your child or somebody's son or daughter. That's the perspective I had.
You mentioned missing and murdered indigenous women. That affects my riding dramatically. I represent Prince George, plus to the north. It's a huge concern. I can't imagine having a daughter who's 12 and having her lost, especially in that way.
You talked about employment and training programs as part of the solution to reducing poverty. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I see it this way. It isn't just a job. It's hope, it's opportunity, and it's freedom. That's how I see it myself. My son just got a job as an apprentice, and his whole life changed because now he can buy a truck and he has money to spend. You know what it's like to have a job. It's a big change in life.
From your perspective, with employment and training programs specifically—and you can even expand to a larger extent—if you could wave the magic wand, big question, what would you do to change the current system? We're targeting aboriginal kids especially, because that's a huge unemployment area, and it seems to be a pattern there. What would you change?