Mr. Shillington, thank you for being with us today.
You say you have appeared before the committee, but that wasn't the Committee on the Status of Women, because it didn't exist in 2000. You say you made presentations to the Senate in 2000, 2005 and 2007 on the same issue.
Mr. Shillington, the rise of the right wing that we are seeing just about everywhere in the world, except in South America, is tending to create even more distance between classes than there was 10 years ago. Bit by bit, the middle class is being done away with, and various governments are using different methods to achieve that.
In normal economic circumstances, the programs that were proposed a few years ago would probably be welcomed by the general public. That is not the case now. For example, the children under six benefit is worth more for people with higher incomes, because they can get the entire benefit. As you put it so well, employment insurance benefits people with higher earnings more, and the same is true of tax credits.
Mr. Shillington, you spoke earlier about a multiplier effect. Do you believe that the various programs have that kind of effect on the lives of the most vulnerable people, women heads of single-parent families who don't have access to these programs because of the barriers in their way?
Thank you.