That's shameful. Rather than see the family split up and the kids put in care, the Salvation Army paid for the hotel out of their own pockets. There's no reimbursement coming from the government for that expense.

Mr. Speaker, it may not cost as much to put kids in care as to put a family in a hotel, but is it the right thing to do? I've heard more than one Minister in this government say that we need to make supporting families a priority, but with actions like this do they really mean it?

Mr. Speaker, we need more flexibility to deal with this crisis situation. The homelessness coalition has tried to get Education, Culture and Employment to change its policy to allow for families to stay in hotels at a discounted rate when there is no alternative. But the policy has not changed and instead of keeping families together and preventing even more trauma, another department of this government is spending money to put children from homeless families in care. We then pay for the cost of putting these families or trying to put these families back together. That's ludicrous.

Mr. Speaker, if the departments would work together, we could probably serve more people without a huge increase in cost.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.