Thanks, Madam Chair.
I just want to say, listening to the deputy minister and to the questions this committee has posed, what an honour it is to be part of this process. I really think this committee has urged Finance to do things in the last few years that it would not have otherwise done. I think that moves Canada in the right direction. It truly is an honour to be part of this process.
I don't want to actually do an analysis at this moment. I want to ask the committee how we can best be of help at this stage in the work you're doing. I've said in previous submissions what I think you need to do. You need to have a good process, which you are urging. You need to have good measurements for defining progress in achieving, not even better equality, but a reduction in the vulnerability of women, which surely is the acid test of any good public policy. It's not just the vulnerability of women either; it's the vulnerability of people.
The reduction of vulnerability is equivalent to enhancing equality, and I would urge you to consider that. When you're told that the system is more progressive and that these measures are actually helping the poorest the most, I would ask for substantiation of those points. Surely the role of government is not to make things better for those who already have it the best. That's the acid test.
If you are insisting on better processes, insisting on better measures of progress in reducing vulnerability, and insisting on substantiation of the impact of government initiatives, not just for the vulnerable but the entire package, as has been declared--there's about $200 billion in spending and $140 billion in tax reduction measures--please don't focus just on the tax side. How we spend is perhaps more important for women and the vulnerable. It is more difficult to do, guaranteed, but you've just been invoked by the deputy minister to stay on the cutting edge. Use your passion to urge better mechanisms of analysis to stay on the cutting edge of where government action can make a difference.
In light of all that, in light of what I have said previously and what my colleagues have said, I guess I would use my time to ask how we can best be of service to you. What is the most important thing we can do?