Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome the literacy advocates who have come from across Canada to be here on Parliament Hill today, to commemorate Literacy Action Day.
This year marks the 13th anniversary of this important day. In Canada, nine million working-age adults do not read well enough to succeed in our knowledge-based society. The federal government must remedy this situation immediately.
The Conservatives claim they are spending $80 million on literacy but refuse to show us how or where they are spending it.
Canadians have watched the Conservatives' cruel so-called fat-trimming exercise and listened to a cabinet minister liken it to going without a cup of coffee for a week.
Conservative cuts to federal literacy funding have undermined the quantity and quality of literacy services across the country. The Liberal caucus calls upon the Prime Minister to immediately restore the funding for literacy programs in Canada.