Mr. Speaker, there is nothing more relevant to strengthening our democracies, to improving prosperity, which involves trade, and to realizing human potential than the health and well-being of children. It is a precondition and that is the relevance.
Let me conclude. I believe that if we could raise one healthy, well adjusted generation of children, poverty as we know it throughout the Americas would be a condition of the past. In that context, I mean that it should be physical, mental and social health that we are looking at for our children.
It also contemplates that our social, moral and family values and those of our families, educators and legislators promote, protect and defend those values. Our children are a function of the society in which they live. Those who become our future poor do so because of our failure to put their interests ahead of our own.
Collectively we are responsible for the poverty that exists in Canada today and it is therefore our collective responsibility to resolve both its social and its economic causes.
In conclusion, I quote from Dr. Paul Steinhauer of Voices for Children, in a perfect point of relevance, particularly with regard to the FTAA. He stated:
With one in four children entering adult life significantly handicapped, we can look forward to a society that will be less able to generate the economic base required to supply the social supports and services needed by one in four adults unable to carry their own weight.
In that context, investing in children, particularly in the early years, is an imperative, not an option. My humble message for the leaders of the democracies, the 34 countries coming to meet at the summit of the Americas, is to put the interests of our children ahead of all other interests because I truly believe that it is a precondition to strengthening our democracies, to achieving greater prosperity and to realizing human potential.