Absolutely. It makes me feel better, Madam Speaker, because he quantified it as an astonishing statement.
Let me preface this. The reason I feel that way is that my parents divorced when I was at a very early age. A lot of positive things have come out of my life because my parents have dealt with it the way they have and because there have been some community supports.
I can tell the House that those challenging times in my life were when I went to school and there were only one or two children who had divorced parents. There was a stigma attached to me. That was one of the biggest difficulties I had to face in my life, because there were not that many other people out there who were in the same situation, but that has changed now. The stigma has changed because there are community supports out there and I think I am a better person for it.
As for what I referenced when I said that it takes a community to raise a child, I believe that. Parents obviously are incredibly important, the most important asset in a child's life, but it takes everybody working together to ensure that children are safe, have a healthy environment and have the opportunity for education and the opportunity to be included in the community in terms of recreation and all the learning experiences available. That takes a community and that is about taking care of our children.
For the most part, parents in our society today have to go to jobs. They need to have the opportunity to earn a wage to be able to build a family and to make sure they have a sustainable future. That has a cost. The cost is that they are away from their children more. When that happens other support has to be there, whether it is great day care or whether it is the opportunity to be included in the community around them. Regardless of that, those structures have to be in place. That comes from a healthy environment. This is not just left wing propaganda. It is about a community. A lot of people on the right wing believe in strong communities and that is what the issue is. The issue is about communities, but we must have the proper support, resources and planning for our communities. That takes vision and dedication of resources and the ability to see that process through.