Thank you.
I would just say that I'll share my time with Mr. Stanton, and in the second round we'll share our time just to get our questions in.
Thank you so much for coming today. It was very nice of you to do that, to take your time.
In 1989 there was a promise that child poverty would be eliminated by 2000. I realize this is a very deep problem and it's something that needs to be addressed.
Quite honestly, we have heard from absolutely hundreds and hundreds of parents who are in a very poor situation with young children, and they're very grateful for the $100 a month that has been allotted to them. And they don't pay tax on that because they're below that level of paying tax. So it has been extremely beneficial to them, particularly when there are very small children. They're also able to use it for anything they choose to use it for. It would be my wish, personally, that we could increase that, because we've had such a great response from very poor families on it.
Seeing that this was a declaration made in November 1989, what do you think, over all this time, were the greatest hindrances? Because when you bring up the stats today, the same old same old did not work, did it? I've looked back at conversations from way back then; I've looked back at committee reports. The same kind of thing was being said.
What has happened now with the new government is that we've tried to attack it in such a way that low-income families have had immediate benefits. It's a start, and we need to do more.
Very practically speaking, what do you think? Why wasn't it successful, since 1989? I mean, why are the stats the way they are today? It's deplorable. Do you have some comments on that?