First, Bonita, thank you so much for your question and for your advocacy.
At this point, I really want to highlight the national priorities, because they take into account what you're saying. They take into account the listening and learning that I was talking about before. These are not just overall general numbers; you have to look beneath those numbers and dig a little bit.
In 2023, we had five national priorities. Youth with disabilities was number one. Then I dug a little deeper and wanted to know about the jobs: How many young people with disabilities? Right now, that's 9%. We have to improve that. I'm hoping that MPs who have the tools to improve that will see that and prioritize those organizations: Black and other racialized youth were at 21% and indigenous youth were at 4%, and then it was small businesses and not-for-profit organizations. Then it was small businesses and not-for-profit orgs in environmental sectors. Those were the national priorities.
I say this, Bonita, because it's important within that women and girls lens to look a little deeper and understand who they are and which communities they're from. As the minister responsible for youth and responsible for this program, I look at our number one priority being youth with disabilities, and I see 9%. I want to say that in this forum because I want that to improve, but that means MPs and all of us working together to prioritize these organizations. That's how it improves. I want to see greater numbers with Black and other racialized youth as well. Women and girls fit in there. I want to put it out there in this forum that it's at 21%, and I'd like to that to improve too, as well as indigenous youth, which is only at 4%.