Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak to what is not in the budget and what the government might think about going forward.
One in five Canadian children lives below the poverty line, which may lead to poor nutritional status and poor child health outcomes. Fortunately, school nutrition programs are highly effective in providing children with nutritious diets, better cognitive abilities and health. Unfortunately, Canada is one of the few developed countries without a national nutrition program. If we had a national school meals program implemented in Canada's high schools at a cost of $1.25 per meal, with the goal of increasing graduation rates by just 3%, the annual payback would be $500 million.
Does the hon. member think that we should have a pan-Canadian nutrition program?