Thank you, Chair, and thank you very much to the committee for this opportunity to appear and speak to you about the teachers' concerns relative to the issues that affect the committee's work.
The Canadian Teachers' Federation is a national voice of teachers. We represent over 220,000 teachers in primary and secondary schools across Canada. We are a national bilingual umbrella organization and we're made up of 16 provincial and territorial member organizations and one affiliate member.
We believe we come from the premise, in dealing with issues of this nature, that strong social cohesion for all Canadians is an investment in the long-term prosperity of Canada. From that perspective, we believe that investing in children and in families is the most effective way to develop active and engaged citizens who will offer the most and contribute the most to the Canadian social and economic environment.
We've just held a national conference here in Ottawa over the past weekend on the whole issue of education for social justice, and many of the things we were talking about in that conference and dealing with are germane to the issues that are addressed by this committee.
Noreen was chair of that conference, so I will turn to her to continue on with the material and the issues we wish to raise.