Finance committee  Yes, and specifically with the ability to put the RRSPs, the RRIFs, and the pensions in a Henson trust, where it would not then affect the provincial benefits.

Finance committee  Again, I'm not a tax expert, but I believe the technical parts of this were developed in February, in the 2003 budget, so the groundwork has already been done. Tax experts such as my colleague Ken Pope would be much better able to give information on that kind of question.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  Nothing has changed. We founded the Families Matter Co-op last year in Ottawa. I moved down here from Red Lake, in northwest Ontario, came to the nation's capital, and found a complete lack of service for my son. It's only through fighting that we've been able to get any support for him.

Finance committee  No, I don't. That's Ken's expertise.

Finance committee  No, I haven't, but I'm sure there will be lots of comments that these cuts you're talking about are not the way to go, that we need more investment into people who are able to work but are not given the chance to work. We need investment in the businesses that employ them. Our co-op in Ottawa is investigating two or three different social enterprises that we can bring in from models in Toronto and in other parts of the province.

Finance committee  I'm not a tax expert, I'm a parent. I know that social portals exist in Vancouver and in other places where purchasing does take place in the partnership between business, government and social enterprises. I know there are developments taking place in Ottawa, which I'm interested in, of another social portal.

Finance committee  Good afternoon. Thank you for this opportunity to speak to you about the concern outlined in the written brief presented to this committee on behalf of Families Matter Co-operative. That brief was prepared by me, John Toft, secretary of the co-op, and by Kenneth C. Pope, a Henson trust specialist.