Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Ievers and panel, for coming to join us here this afternoon.
My question actually pertains to the testimony that this committee has heard relating primarily to economic security but also to access.
We heard that there have been some gains for women in particular, but there remains a segment of our population, particularly women seniors, native aboriginal women, and new Canadian or immigrant women, for whom we have not been able to close the gap with regard to access and being fully integrated and having the same economic benefit. The gap continues to be there and doesn't seem to be moving all that quickly, despite the fact that we've seen some announcements around, for example, support for immigrant settlement. There's been a reduction in the residence fee--and I'll context this by saying I want to focus on immigrant women in particular--and we've seen some movement towards helping foreign-trained immigrants get their equivalency to participate fully in Canadian society.
I wonder if you could comment on why we still don't seem to be closing the gap in those issues, specifically for immigrant women.