Finance committee  Thank you. I did miss a bit of the interpretation because this machine wasn't working very well. As you're aware, back in the mid-1990s about 80% of unemployed Canadians were availing themselves of the EI fund. That's now under 40% in Canada; in my own province of Nova Scotia, it's less than 40%.

Finance committee  Yes. I just spoke at a conference in Nova Scotia with teachers. The topic they asked me to talk about was youth poverty. What's happening is extraordinary. We don't have a youth strategy either in this country, and it's indeed required. If you were a poor individual, a poor mother, you could not afford, if you were on EI, to go and get 55% of something that's well below the poverty line, so that whole group of people....

Finance committee  Well, I think that makes sense. But people basically want to get back to work, and one of the elements that's going to allow that to happen is that people have affordable child care that's consistent. The $100 a month on the child care supplement is some help, in terms of income, for people, but it's not what's required.

Finance committee  Yes. What we have recommended on a number of occasions is that the fund be split for social assistance contributions. Previous governments have cut it badly. I'm not talking about just splitting it, I'm talking about enhancing it.

Finance committee  Yes, thank you. In our view, lowering the GST and the child benefit and so on are band-aid approach material. What needs to be done is a much broader approach to the reduction of poverty, because the GST, really, does not affect poor people. They don't buy the big items, so it's just of no benefit.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for the opportunity to meet. I hope the committee will also refer to our written brief. The National Council of Welfare agrees with the goal of prosperity for all Canadians. In order to achieve this goal, however, it is not enough to examine the health of Canada's businesses; it requires that everyone can participate in our economy and society.