Mr. Speaker, Campaign 2000 released disturbing statistics today. The number of poor children in Canada has increased to almost 1.3 million, an increase of 35 per cent since 1989. Campaign 2000 is a partnership of 51 organizations across Canada dedicated to promoting support for the all-party House of Commons resolution to eradicate child poverty by the year 2000.
Campaign 2000 reports that Canadian children today are more likely to be poor, to be dependent on social assistance, to use a food bank and to live in families where parents are unemployed.
As a society we must no longer tolerate this horrible plight faced by many Canadian children. As members of Parliament we must tackle the problem of child poverty.
I urge the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Human Resources Development to allocate more resources toward improving the dismal situation of child poverty. We must not sacrifice future generations in our attempts to reduce the debts of current generations.