Mr. Chairman, in the sense of general comments and the level of income security and the supports that we provide, yes, it's the best in Canada and the best might be a descriptive word. It's certainly one of the, if not the richest in Canada, but that is not necessarily, in my books, a good thing. We, I believe, have set up some dependencies and expectations. We're seeing that now in the debate we're having here right now in the rent scale for social housing. There are many aspects of this that over the years, almost decades in some cases, these programs have become institutionalized and are almost seen as a given, almost a right or obligation of government rather than a decision that's made for the improvement or betterment of some people.
So I am not a fan of bringing in subsidies or supports or assistance unless they can be justified as amply warranted that there are no other options, and, Mr. Chairman, that they are sustainable. I think the old story that we've heard many times in government, various programs or taxes are brought in. The most infamous one, of course, is personal income tax. It was brought in for a short time to help pay for World War I. Well, guess what? We've still got it. I do not like to see these kinds of things brought in and, in fact, there was discussion just recently of some other type of program that might go toward, I think it was homelessness. Again, are we about to introduce or create another dependency that's just going to keep on growing on us? I hope not.
So those are some of my views, Mr. Chairman, on that overall income security area. I really do anticipate some strong and progressive work out of this area. Thank you.