Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good morning, mesdames. Thank you for being here and for helping us improve our understanding.
Ms. Regehr, I was very sensitive to your testimony this morning. It spoke to me personally. You talked about long-term vision. You mentioned that if there is no long-term vision or accompanying resources, we don't have the means to emerge from poverty or to achieve gender equality.
You also talked about models. You referred to the Scandinavian model and to the model which Canada is increasingly trying to use: the English model. The latter is more conservative and traditional than the Scandinavian model, which is more progressive and based on social development.
Can you talk more about convergence? What determines that choice, for example? Will the action plan suggested by the government, which appears in the 2008 budget, make it possible to develop policies that will have a direct impact on the most vulnerable groups, women, persons with disabilities, aboriginal women, single mothers?