Thank you, Chair. I appreciate it.
Thank you, Minister, for being here.
Although I'm a fill-in today, I'm going to take a little privilege and opportunity to ask you about a motion that I'm bringing to the House of Commons next Monday. It's on the British home child. When I heard your initial comments and heard about the new guide that your ministry is bringing out about Canada's history and values and diversity, I couldn't help but think there's a really strong linkage here to the motion I'm bringing to declare 2010 the year of the British home child. The British home child is part of our history that most Canadians don't know about, which touches many. Up to 12% to 14% of our population are descendants of British home children.
Of course, in my mind, this is a great Canadian story of overcoming adversity. There were over 100,000 British home children who immigrated into this country from the late 1800s to the early 1930s, and they overcame diversity. They have made our country great. They served in both world wars. They represent part of our history that hopefully will be told in the year 2010, as a result of this motion I'm bringing. I'm bringing this to the committee today. I know you've been involved in this and have communicated with me and my office and my staff. I'm just wondering what your overall view of such a motion is, and of the contributions these British home children have made to making Canada great.