Hon. Marilou McPhedran: I have a question for Senator Moodie, if that is allowed.

Senator Moodie, it was a very comprehensive speech, and I know it reflects extensive work by you and your team, and I thank you most sincerely.

I want to zero in on child poverty. Could you tell us a bit more about how this act and the strategy would accelerate, galvanize and inspire much more concrete action to eradicate child poverty in Canada?

Senator Moodie: The question you ask is so important, because it speaks to the entire strategy. How will the strategy do what it claims to want to do?

First of all, it allows us, as a country, to decide what we value and what we want for every child, and setting that principle down in writing and establishing it as our goal — the desired outcome — that we follow through with the information, frankly, we already have.

We have a lot of this information. There is a lot of civil society that can provide us with reams of data which tell us where we are failing, where things are actually working and what interventions have the most impact. If we can use an evaluative process that follows through on a declaration that starts with, “We want to eradicate child poverty,” then we can revisit and reassess as we go along from month to month and year to year in order to understand if it is working. What is working? How can we repurpose investments over here — that are not impactful — into the types of interventions that we know work? Then, we can accelerate, build momentum and move things along with real investment.

Many may actually say, “What is the cost of this?” I would propose that we save money by understanding where our investments work, and by pulling money from areas where, frankly, we are throwing mud against the wall and it is not sticking.

We need to understand that, and we need to bring in new policies that align so that we are constantly building, constantly refining and moving the needle more effectively — so we are distributing and upscaling what works in smaller areas and communities more broadly across our country, and we are allowing children to benefit from this well-organized, deliberate approach.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

[Translation]

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Housakos, seconded by the Honourable Senator Seidman:

That the Senate take note of:

(a)the deteriorating humanitarian crisis occurring in Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of Azerbaijan’s ongoing blockade of the Lachin corridor and increased military aggression against indigenous Armenian civilians in the region; and

(b)the actions of the Aliyev regime as being dictatorial, and in violation of international law; and

That the Senate call on the Government of Canada:

(a)to support the liberty of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and their right to self-determination;

(b)to immediately impose sanctions against the Azeri regime;

(c)to demand the immediate reopening of the Lachin corridor and the release of Armenian Prisoners of War;

(d)to provide a significant aid package through NGOs to those Armenian people forcefully displaced from their indigenous land; and

(e)to protect the Armenian people of Nagorno-Karabakh through the presence of international peacekeeping forces.

(On motion of Senator Petitclerc, debate adjourned.)

[English]

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the inquiry of the Honourable Senator Boyer, calling the attention of the Senate to the positive contributions and impacts that Métis, Inuit, and First Nations have made to Canada, and the world.