Mr. Speaker, I recognize there are only a few minutes left in the debate. I have spoken previously on this matter. I do not want to repeat what I said at that time, but I do want to reinforce what my hon. colleague has just said.
The poverty of children costs us. As we look for ways to contain the cost of our medical system without reducing the quality and access to care, we have to remember that poor children are four times as likely to become seriously ill and to die. As we seek to keep children in school to improve our ability to compete on the international stage, we have to remember that poor children are four times as likely to drop out of school.
Poverty costs us all. That is why I want to make this point. I have no question that we are going to implement the measure proposed in the bill, to not make child support payments taxable in the hands of the custodial parent. I simply urge the government to recognize that this measure will generate substantial amounts of revenue for the Government of Canada. We have to make the commitment to direct that money explicitly to alleviating the poverty of children.
In 1991 the House adopted a unanimous resolution to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000. We are halfway to that target. In fact, the rate of child poverty in Canada has increased rather than
decreased. It is now 1.4 million children in Canada who are living in poverty, compared to one million when the House adopted the resolution.
I rise today only to say to the government that when we generate more revenue from taxing child support payments, as they should be taxed in the hands of the income earner and not the custodial parent, that money should go nowhere but to the children of Canada.