Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Human Rights Act does not include poverty in the prohibited grounds of discrimination, but poverty is a real threat to equality and should have no place in a democratic, free and open society.
In this regard, I would recall article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reads “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family”.
It is shocking to realize that in Canada 1.5 million poor children do not manage to meet their basic needs. The real responsibility for this mess lies with the Prime Minister and his cuts in transfers to the provinces, with the Minister of Human Resources Development and his attack on the unemployed and with the Minister of Finance, who is hiding the employment insurance fund surplus.
With these choices, the Liberal government is directly attacking the dignity of poor children and their parents.