Thank you, Cindy Blackstock, for being here. This is a really important discussion.
What I find astounding is that Canada was found to be racially discriminating against children, and it ignored a compliance order. That's why you are here today: because the supplemental estimates show that the Government of Canada decided that it didn't have to bother putting any money into Jordan's principle. That's why you are here as a witness.
You talk about the repeated denials of service that were found and the systemic racial discrimination. I hear from officials, “Well, it's complicated. We have to consult. We're doing our best”. This past week a little boy was denied an audiology test by a bureaucrat in Ottawa who told the doctor, “Let's wait till that child's four or six and see if a problem develops”. As the father of a deaf child, I know that if they don't get that diagnosis immediately, that child is done for life.
I'd like you to comment on this attitude that we hear from officials, “Well, we will implement Jordan's Principle by consulting”. Are they still racially discriminating? Are they still denying service to children in this day?