Mr. Speaker, there was a major conference in Ottawa last week. It brought together people from all across Canada who are interested in finding ways to relieve child poverty. They left knowing that the problem was well documented, but frustrated because there is little being done to deal with it.
However, there was one bright note and that was the award presented to the province of Saskatchewan and accepted at the conference by Premier Roy Romanow. The award acknowledged Saskatchewan's commitment to investing in children as a key priority and its co-ordinated approach to policy development and delivery.
Premier Romanow was also a featured speaker at that conference. He reminded us that it is the responsibility of all of us to value, protect and support Canada's children, to guide them in becoming healthy, functioning adults because it is the health and the strength of our children that will determine the future health and strength of our country.
He also reminded us of the most recent report of the Canadian Council of Catholic Bishops which said: "To think that almost one Canadian child in five lives in poverty in one of the richest
societies in world history is nothing less than a damning indictment of the present socioeconomic order".
In Saskatchewan, the province's action plan for children was designated in 1993 to provide a model for the development of programs and services for children and families. It not only brings together community groups, agencies, individuals and governments to collaborate and deliver services, but also links activities between Saskatchewan's human service departments. This interlinking of departmental initiatives enables the province to better target limited resources and to develop programs that more effectively meet the overall needs of children and families.
It was this action plan that captured the attention of the child poverty community and was the impetus for the award presented to the premier last week.
But more needs to be done and Premier Romanow and most of Canada knows that the federal government must play an important role in this regard.
First, on the premier's national agenda to help reduce child poverty is a commitment to strong social programs. He emphasizes programs which address child and family poverty, but at the same time he stresses the necessity to preserve medicare and accessible quality education.
I might add that a major problem today is the federal Liberal government's insistence that $7 billion be cut from its transfers to the provinces for health and education programs. To me this $7 billion must be reinstated immediately.
The premier also believes that Canada must undertake a comprehensive review of the taxation system which is seen as being unfair, ineffective and not representative of current Canadian priorities. Obviously this fits well with the federal NDP's call for a fair taxation system which would see the banks and large corporations paying their fair share of taxes.
It goes without saying that our nation's children represent our nation's future. We have to take their needs into account as we plan for today's activities.
In 1989 a resolution brought forward by the then NDP federal leader Ed Broadbent to eliminate poverty by the year 2000 was passed unanimously by the members of the House. Since then 46 per cent more children are living below the poverty line. Obviously, the status quo is not working. Some aggressive action is required.
My question for the federal Liberal government is simple: When the premier of Saskatchewan and all those who care about children call for a different approach to dealing with poverty, is the minister, on behalf of the government prepared to heed that call?