Mr. Speaker, as the member will recall, the Speech from the Throne acknowledged the importance of early childhood development. By investing now in the well-being of today's children this government is investing in the long term health of our society.
Federal, provincial and territorial governments have been working closely for some time on collaborative initiatives aimed at helping children get a better start in life. The community action program for children, the Canada prenatal nutrition program and aboriginal head start are just examples of highly successful programs already in place to help children in target communities.
To ensure that all Canadian children have the best opportunity to develop their full potential, we need a broader and much more comprehensive investment. Early childhood development alone is not the solution. A growing body of research tells us that we must look at the wide range of environmental factors that affect children's lives.
That is why the Speech from the Throne announced the development of a national children's agenda. Three levels of government are working together to develop a national strategy to improve the well-being of Canada's seven million children. This agenda will give us the opportunity to integrate the sometimes fragmented efforts of the different levels of government avoiding overlap and duplication to ensure we get the most out of each dollar we spend on children.
The national children's agenda is a long term action plan that requires a substantial investment of time and effort from all players. In the meantime we will live up to the commitment we made to Canadians.
As announced in the 1997 budget, the Canada child tax benefit will come into force July 1 to help low income families. As announced in this year's budget, we will increase the Canada child tax benefit by an additional $850 million by the year 2000.
Let me conclude by saying to the hon. member that these efforts by the Government of Canada demonstrate quite clearly that we are committed to do as much as we possibly can to move toward the elimination of child poverty, to promote early childhood development and to lay a strong foundation for the future of Canadian children and Canadian society.