Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for holding this over. I really appreciate that.
Minister Swan, we appreciate you being here and travelling a long way.
I just want to say very clearly that all members of this committee, and Parliament itself, realize the scourge that youth gangs are. This issue is not something that's partisan, as far as I can see. My remarks are going to sound somewhat partisan, and that's why I'm approaching them this way. Truthfully, I and some others were quite surprised that a single MP undertook something of this nature. Considering the seriousness of the situation, our belief was that a comprehensive approach to this would be more valuable.
I'm just going to ask you a quick question.
Are you familiar with the Vibrant Communities initiative? Calgary has one under way. They've come out of the United States. Hamilton has a poverty round table that is looking at the negative aspects of poverty. I was a school board trustee in Hamilton and I saw first-hand that our poorest areas were the ones in which the gangs were most successful. So there is that rounded approach.
If you'd like to respond, that would be great, but please raise this with the ministers when you're talking to them, because you were talking about 14 points initially, and perhaps this would be a helpful addition.