Mr. Speaker, Sunday, December 10 is International Human Rights Day. This year the UN has adopted the theme of “Fighting Poverty: a matter of obligation, not charity”, something the government would do well to respect.
In fact, under the Conservative regime, Canadians' rights are under serious attack.
We have seen deep cuts to the Status of Women offices, including Hamilton's, which offered research and advocacy to develop women's social, political and economic equality. It was cut, even though an estimated 2.8 million Canadian women still live in poverty.
We have seen cuts to literacy programs, despite a well documented relationship between poverty and illiteracy.
We have seen a determined attempt to segregate some loving couples from others, picking and choosing who gets to be called a family.
We have seen increased deportations of immigrant parents and children attempting to escape war and famine.
Let us stop the Conservative attack on Canadians' rights and begin work on attacking poverty instead.