Mr. Speaker, the month of May has been the month of the green ribbon of hope campaign for our missing children. May 25 was Missing Children's Day sponsored by Child Find Canada.
Every year over 55,000 Canadian children under the age of 18 are reported to the RCMP's missing children registry. Many of these children leave their homes voluntarily because of harsh and unbearable conditions. Others are abducted and disappear, often becoming the victims of heinous criminal acts.
Child Find Canada is a charitable non-government funded organization dedicated to the elimination of this problem through its education and awareness programs such as its all about me ID program. This is a program that works with parents and local community organizations to document information about a child's basic identity.
The problem of missing children is all too real. It reinforces a need to pursue policies that strengthen our criminal justice system and strengthen and protect the Canadian family.