Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Pinsky, my first question is for you. In your brief, you addressed the issue of support payments. You said that the determination and settlement of support payments is a source of dispute and a cause of poverty. For example, you talked about the length of the legal process, which is very costly for the parties, and the fact that some people settle for less support than they should receive, in order to avoid conflict.
You proposed federal guidelines for child support and the Divorce Act to help determine the payments in situations where responsibilities are shared. You said that a basic framework and formula must be provided to promote stability and predictability in the best interests of the child, while reducing conflict, emotional harm and the resulting financial burden.
Even if we manage to put in place the fair, proportional, easily understood and easily implemented mechanism that you're recommending, do you really think that this mechanism will help achieve the objective that the bill claims to achieve, which is to reduce poverty?
The people from the department said that the bill would reduce poverty. However, I'm wondering about the families who can't afford these payments. I asked the representatives of the Barreau du Québec the same question, given that we have a somewhat similar system in Quebec.