You talked about your three pillars: prosperity, violence and democracy.
As far as prosperity is concerned, you must know that we are in the midst of a major economic crisis. At present, women are the ones suffering the most from this crisis. Many have had to leave good jobs because they were at the bottom of the seniority list in many places. We look at companies like Nortel, which have shut down and where hundreds, if not thousands, of women worked. I could give you a whole list.
You seem very positive when you talk about prosperity for women, but in the field, we realize that there is not really prosperity for women. Irrespective of what you have been able to accomplish in the short time I have been on this committee, I have not had the feeling that women have played a much bigger role in Canada and in Quebec, because of the current economic crisis. There are currently no new jobs. We cannot hide from that fact. There is a financial bubble and a financial recovery. Before women once again take their place in our society, they will suffer a great deal, they will still be poorer.
There is regular discussion these days about pensions for women, among whom impoverishment is even greater. Women will reach retirement age with very, very little. Immigrant women are totally forgotten; they are at the lowest levels of our society and are extremely poor. We get no sense that there is a significant push to change that. There is definitely an economic crisis, and that has to be taken into account. I would like to hear a bit of what you have to say on that subject.
When you talk about prosperity, you seem to be saying that there is a great deal of momentum on this front, whereas we don't feel that on a day-to-day basis in our society.