Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.
The minister will of course know that the reform of Canada's social programs is under way at breakneck speed. Canadians have recently told the minister by a margin of three to one that they believe his main aim is to reduce social program expenditures. They must have read the budget.
With poverty on the increase and bearing in mind the enormous social and economic cost to Canadians as a result of this poverty, what does he say to the 275,000 Canadian families who live more than $10,000 below the poverty line who fear his reforms will take them even further below the poverty line?