Finance committee  Thank you, Chair Rajotte and honourable members of the committee, for allowing us to present today. My name is Harriett McLachlan. I'm the president of the board of directors of Canada Without Poverty. It's a board that's made up of individuals who have lived the experience of p

Finance committee  Thank you for your questions. If I understand the first question about inequality, it's more an example of a federal plan in another country. It's a very technical question. I have the new director of Canada Without Poverty here, Leilani Farha.

Finance committee  I think the best plan is support for low-income Canadians, so I'm with you there, and I also think that we must think not just about tax credits. I think that's important, but I think money also needs to be invested in social skills, for example, and support given toward those pr

Finance committee  I think it's critical. I think that if you invest $1 in early childhood education, you save $9 down the road. It just makes good, sound sense. There are nutritional programs, early education programs, and a whole comprehensive package that needs to go with that. In a lot of ways,

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  I think it's a waste of our time, if that's the question. We're here and we've displaced ourselves and we've travelled a long distance to be here—

Finance committee  That's a very interesting question. It's very evident to me that it actually does not help people in poverty. It helps people who are working in corporations. If the answer to not being in poverty is a job, then those who work in corporations benefit. It's interesting because po

Status of Women committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the opportunity to speak here today. My name is Harriett McLachlan. I'm the president of the board of directors of Canada Without Poverty, a non-partisan, charitable organization that was founded in 1971 and has representation from coast to c

Status of Women committee  Yes, I have to completely agree with Danièle here. I think when the $5-a-day day care was formed, the idea behind that was to have a 24-hour day care available. There were some critics who were saying they were doing this so that people would get off welfare. I'd rather see it as

Status of Women committee  For me, from personal experience and what I know from my clients is that it's almost like day care; it's essential. If you don't have proper housing or affordable housing, then you can be forced to stay in unhealthy relationships, living in very precarious, insecure situations wi

Status of Women committee  Some of the specific elements would be establishing goals that are measurable with timelines. We can do the round table discussions around the country and see the differences between rural and urban areas, see the different population sectors and stuff, and those are critical to

Status of Women committee  I would say that there is a great lack of support in community organizations that can work hand in hand with entrepreneurs. You talk about saving money. Poor women cannot save money. We have to be realistic about some of these things. What I'd like to see is some leadership fro

Status of Women committee  Is there anything I haven't said today that I'd say to the committee?

Justice committee  Thank you. Thank you for inviting Canada Without Poverty to appear at this important study on access to justice. CWP is a federally incorporated, charitable organization dedicated to the elimination of poverty in Canada. Since our inception in 1971 as the National Anti-Poverty

Justice committee  It was more of an individual matter, and the lack of access, that impacted my life tremendously. I don't think it would be something...maybe it could have been something to take to the court challenges program, but it was more individual.