44th Parl. 1st Sess.

February 29, 2024 10:00AM

Context: House Hansard - 288 - Feb/29/24

Mrs. Jenica Atwin (Fredericton, Lib.)

Feb/29/24 2:01:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to use my voice in this House to raise awareness on the issue of child poverty. As a mother, I understand the importance of a healthy, safe and nurturing environment for children to live, learn and grow. Childhood is the most formative developmental period in an individual's life, and it deserves to be protected, yet according to the recent child poverty report, in 2021 nearly one in six Canadian children were denied the right to an adequate standard of living, and this number is even higher for indigenous and racialized children. It has been no less than 34 years since members of Parliament voted to eradicate child poverty by the year 2000. It is 2024, and our time to act is now. We can expand access and eligibility to the Canada child benefit, which has already proven successful in reducing child poverty rates; we can establish a national school food program, mitigating the immediate impacts of food insecurity on children's learning outcomes; and we can fight for a universal livable income to ensure parents do not have to choose between paying rent and feeding their child. We owe it to the one million Canadian children suffering under our watch to do better. I ask my colleagues in this House to join me in calling for an end to child poverty. Every child matters.

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House Hansard - 288