Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank my colleague for her question about this.
It may in fact appear somewhat contradictory to take action beforehand. But if there's one thing that's very clear at the moment, it's that poverty is intrinsically related to the issue of food insecurity.
As we have seen during the pandemic, there has been growing demand from food banks. It wasn't only people who were working less who were using them, because children needed them too. In my own riding, an organization established a food policy program in a school. Its purpose was to prevent any stigmatization of poverty based on the meals children were eating at school.
As a country, I think we have a duty to make sure that children, including children from poor families, have healthy food to eat. We are responsible for ensuring that there is a national food policy to deal with this. Even though it is part of the government's commitment, it's in our own interest as a committee and as a country to ask questions about how to develop a policy that would meet the genuine needs we have been observing in the field. That's why I believe this policy and this study are extremely important.
I'm happy to answer any questions from my colleagues. At the very least, it could be an exploratory study. I'm completely open to the idea of having a discussion with my colleagues if some of them think that the wording of the motion needs to be clearer. The purpose of the study is in fact to investigate ahead of time what things are like in the field so that we can develop a policy that makes sense. I believe that it is part of the committee's responsibilities and terms of reference to ask these questions.