Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by virtually hundreds of Canadians, most of them from the Victoria and Nanaimo, B.C. area.
The petitioners draw the attention of the House to the fact that one in five Canadian children live in poverty; that on November 24, 1989 the House of Commons unanimously resolved to end child poverty in Canada by the year 2000; and that since 1989 the number of poor children in Canada has increased 60%.
They therefore call upon parliament to use the federal budget 2000 to introduce a multi-year plan to improve the well-being of Canada's children. The budget is already over but the sentiments of these Canadians continues on to other budgets and beyond.