Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely crucial for the federal government to focus on children in the months and years ahead.
It is well known that well-developed children become successful productive adults who are better able to contribute to society's economy and to instigate a cycle of positive effects as they become parents and grandparents of the generations that follow.
As a society we need to continue to ensure that we are doing everything we can to help people carry out the most important job they will ever have and that is of a parent. As a society we need to continue to ensure that we are doing everything we can in the first three or four years of a child's life, noting that they are essential to the child's long term development.
We know now just how valuable it is to get these first years right, but how damaging it can be for children when they do not get the help they need at an early age.
As a society we need to continue to ensure that we are doing everything we can to prevent child abuse which is a crime with potential lifetime effects for the young victims. One abused child is too many.
As a society we need to continue to ensure that we are doing everything we can to prevent child poverty. Poverty affects not only a child's body but also their emotional and mental state. Poor children are more than twice as likely to suffer long term disabilities and other physical and mental health problems.
We at the federal level and indeed all levels of government need to work very hard to advance the cause of Canada's children. We must do so knowing that there is growing recognition worldwide of the importance of early childhood development. This is something we all have a stake in because it is all about the future of Canada. Early child development is a powerful investment in the future both socially and economically.
I ask the secretary of state responsible for children and youth what the government is doing to support our children. What is the government doing to advance the national children's agenda?