Finance committee  I'm not even familiar with all of them, but I can comment briefly on the couple I am familiar with. A couple of them do have to do with housing and do have to do with the crucial issue of establishing a community housing plan for Winnipeg. Another one has to do with putting a system into place to understand the flow of homeless people in and out of shelters.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairperson, members of the committee. We wish to thank you for this opportunity. We are partners in the national Campaign 2000 to end child poverty, and we've reflected this concern in our brief. We argue that five principles should be considered in designing Canada's taxation systems.

Finance committee  So you're questioning the World Economic Forum's index then?

Finance committee  I would agree it's complex. There are many factors that contribute to competitiveness. You mentioned some factors. Any global comparison is difficult. The point we're making--and I think it's a good point--is that it's not accidental that countries that spend higher percentages of their GDP in human capital and social capital are higher in competitiveness.

Finance committee  Again, I think there's a lot of complexity here, and the case we're making is not to defend particular programs but to defend solid spending in those areas. So we would have loved to see a process whereby the government consulted broadly and found ways to use those funds more effectively, but we think--

Finance committee  Thank you.

Finance committee  Thank you. My apologies for being late; I had a flat tire along the way, and I got a little more exercise this morning than expected. Canada's rank in the competitive global economy has been slipping over time. According to the World Economic Forum, Canada ranked 16th in 2006 on the global competitive index, down from 13th in 2005.