Madam Speaker, my colleague, the hon. member for Shefford, has presented a motion concerning a review of the level at which the national child benefit is indexed.
As the human resources development critic for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, I feel duty bound to defend children and the quality of life to which they have a right to aspire.
Let us recall briefly that the question of child poverty has been raised on a number of occasions in recent years. I was not an MP at the time, but I do recall this Parliament being unanimous in resolving the problem in 1989. There was a projection that child poverty would be eradicated by the year 2000. In 1989, one child in eight was considered poor. Now the figure is one in four. In some regions, this proportion might be one in three, and in others perhaps a bit higher.
Yet the principle is a simple one. Today we are working to get an economy working that will redistribute benefits to strata of society where people are less active in the work force, whether the young, the old, the sick, or those forced into inactivity by the economic context. If we do not focus on our children and provide them with a good quality of life, adequate health care and quality education, we will pay for it later. We will end up paying for not having invested in our most important resource, people.
First of all, families have the prime responsibility for raising their children. They must look after their development. They are our front line workers. However, as a government, we must give them support. We also share in the responsibility. Many of us are involved in looking after society's greatest investment, its children. Parents, federal, provincial and territorial governments and community and private agencies must join together to help those who come after us achieve their full potential.
I need not tell you that the experiences of our young people will shape their behaviour later on, that the living conditions we provide for them today will affect their future health and well-being and that their ability to learn and adapt is closely linked to the environment in which they grow up.
Another conclusion, which my colleague mentioned, seems relevant. If children are poor, it is because their parents are. Naturally, the best solution would be job creation. This would be the best way to eliminate child poverty.
I will not fall into a partisan speech on the merits of the Conservative approach to job creation, of reducing taxes and employment insurance premiums. Although no one has a monopoly on truth, I do know that we are proposing the most realistic way to put hope back into the hearts of Canadians.
Let us admit that these issues are closely linked, that it is difficult not to deal with all of them at the same time. There are poor children because there are parents who do not work, or who work in bad conditions. And bad working conditions stem from another problem I have not mentioned: education.
Investing in our children also depends very much on the framework in which they are given the chance to develop their skills. With everything moving ahead so rapidly nowadays, how can investing in education not be regarded as a priority?
If the technological evolution of the last 30 years is any indication of the next 30, investing in education is no longer a priority, but an obligation. If I mention education or employment when talking about child poverty, it is only because there is not just one solution to a problem such as poverty. A series of solutions implemented simultaneously might help. Taken singly, each solution would not solve the problem, but each has its importance and the whole would not work as well if one were missing.
There is one solution that would play an important role in the national benefit reform that has been announced. It is the only cash benefit that will be left once the federal program is inaugurated, hence its significance. Under the new distribution of government responsibilities, the central government's role would be to deliver the cheques. This money will constitute the only money coming in every month for many families, and in some cases would mean the difference between falling below the poverty line and managing to make ends meet.
Unfortunately, these benefits are only partially indexed, a policy that was set at a time of rampant inflation. Inflation is nibbling away at the benefits of people for whom every dollar counts. Now that inflation is stable, it is our duty as legislators to tailor the legislation to society.
For this reason, I support the motion of my colleague for a review of the level at which the child benefit is indexed. I encourage all members of this House to do so as well.