Today we are celebrating the fifth National Child Day.
This day was created in order to commemorate two measures adopted by the United Nations, the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. That convention, which Canada ratified in 1991, is aimed at ensuring the survival, protection and development of children.
Recent statistics show that children under the age of 18 constitute 42% of those receiving assistance from food banks, and that 20% of Canada's children are poor.
In Canada, and in Quebec, the number of poor children is growing at the same astounding rate as the number of millionaires. I am therefore inviting the government over there to reflect upon the consequences of the actions it intends to take for future generations.