Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ms. Hutchison, I can't believe someone commented on the way you were dressed. I'm completely shocked.
Earlier, Ms. Mathyssen spoke to you about the guaranteed minimum annual income. Did you know that when the Bélanger-Campeau Commission was struck in Quebec in 1990, the Fédération québécoise anti-pauvreté presented a brief entitled “Pour que disparaisse la misère au Québec: le Ragui“, which touted the GIA as the solution to ending poverty in Quebec. The brief called for a universal, indexed minimum annual income. The calculations made at the time were quite telling.
In any event, I was fascinated to read that programs like employment insurance and social welfare could be eliminated and replaced with a program that provided everyone with a guaranteed minimum annual income. The program would allow students, among others, to pursue an education without having to hold down two or three jobs to make ends meets, and would allow men and women to choose between staying at home to care for their children and going out to work.
Earlier, you mentioned that the Caledon Institute had given some thought to this feasible, innovative solution. One thing is clear, and that is that no government would dare propose this kind of policy. Yet, considering solutions like the ones you are advocating is a worthwhile exercise because the system can no longer continue to function as it has been. The government can no longer continue arguing that it is doing everything it can, while knowing full well that you are receiving only the bare minimum and not what you really need.
As an MP, I have had it with seeing people come here and tell us what they need, and with realizing the little we can do for them. I am aware of our limitations. I would like to see us, as parliamentarians, make decisions that have to do with people, not just with power. I have to say that I've had it with these kinds of decisions.
You stated that all programs are in need of funding. However, it's true that the federal government cannot interfere in areas under provincial jurisdiction, and that is how it should be.