Mr. Speaker, October 16 is World Food Day.
This day draws attention to the creation of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Quebec City on October 16, 1945.
This year's theme in the celebration of world food day is a millennium free from hunger. At present, over 800 million people in the world, or 13% of the world's entire population, have no access to food.
In 1996, at the world food summit, Canada and 186 other countries made a commitment to halve the number of people who are underfed, by 2015. Canada's action plan for food safety comes out of this commitment.
However, despite Canada's vital contributions to world food safety, we cannot rest on our laurels.
Food security is a complex issue and has a variety of facets requiring the co-operation of—