Mr. Speaker, just blocks from here, cuts to special education funding have driven mothers to the desperate act of offering to sell their kidneys to stop a $20 million cut to their kids' education. Even the family of an American diplomat in Ottawa has warned colleagues away from our capital because of these special education cuts.
The social union agreement is supposed to allow for national standards. Cases like this show that the agreement is nothing more than empty words for these mothers and for other vulnerable Canadians.
The time has come for action. The government says nice things about children with special needs but does nothing. Persons with disabilities are guaranteed equality of citizenship under the charter of rights and freedoms. Why is it that the government always waits for desperate acts or court challenges before providing services that all Canadians are entitled to?
Parents should not have to offer their kidneys to force federal and provincial governments to act.