Mr. Speaker, since 1980 I have had the opportunity to run in seven federal general elections. It is a great honour to participate in the political process. It is even a greater honour to be elected to this place.
Having been successful in the last five elections, I first want to thank my family. Without the support of our families, it would be very difficult to do this. I am very pleased to say that my family has supported me in pursuing a career they know I love.
I also want to thank the constituents of Mississauga South for their support and confidence. I look forward to going to work each and every day to represent their views and their concerns.
Today we are discussing the Speech from the Throne. It is interesting to note that over the past seven Parliaments I have watched the throne speeches. They have been quite different and each has had an opportunity to lay out what the government believes is the most important messaging that it would like to get to Canadians. Regardless of the words in the throne speech, the representations of the various parties during the election campaign also are very important. They lay out what I believe to be an assessment of where we are today and what the shape of Canada is. They also try to articulate to some extent where we should be going and put forward some of the elements, the structure and skeleton of a plan which allows us to move forward in that direction.
I have often thought that the measure of success of a country is not an economic measure. It is the measure of the health and the well-being of its people. We have talked throughout this debate about a number of issues which relate to people in many circumstances. However, I first wanted to relay and share with members what I have learned as a member of Parliament over these last 12 years.
One of the first committees I went to was the health committee. We were told at that time that 75% of health care spending was spent on fixing problems and only 25% on prevention. We were also told by health officials that this model was unsustainable, and I think we have shown that that is right. Health has always been the number one priority of Canadians since I have been a parliamentarian. I believe all hon. members should put that health lens on the camera to ensure that everything we do is related to the health and well-being of all Canadians.
I also learned that there were exceptions to everything. Therefore, if we make an argument, someone will come up with one exception to try to invalidate the argument. However, as parliamentarians, we have to look at the preponderance of evidence, at the majority of cases or the general case so we can make an argument, understanding and respecting the fact that there are circumstances. There are parents who are excellent caregivers and there are some parents who are terrible caregivers. It has nothing to do with things we can control, but we have to understand there are exceptions.
Let us not dismiss the general argument, the preponderance of evidence, of what happens especially as it relates to our first priority, which I would think would be children. I have learned that we cannot legislate behaviour, but we as parliamentarians have an opportunity to educate, inform and provide the tools so people can seek to be as good as they can be, from cradle to grave.
I have learned that in this place we need to have a bit of a philosophy. I would characterize my philosophy as a Canadian, first, as protecting the rights and the freedoms of the individual. It is a very important foundation of this place and of the work that we do. The second, which may not be shared by all, is to help first those in most need.
We know there are people within our society who have challenges, whether they be the disabled, the mentally ill, the infirmed or the aged, those who are unable to help themselves. We have a responsibility to keep their interests first in our minds, to make absolutely sure that they do not fall through the cracks.
If I were to characterize my work as a parliamentarian over the last 12 years, I would say that putting children first probably has been a common theme through much of the work that I have done. As members of Parliament we have an opportunity in our careers, however long they may be, to leave a mark, a fingerprint or an impression so that others who come after we are long gone will be able to build on those values systems that we brought forward.
I remember presenting petitions in this place hundreds of times which stated something like managing the family home and caring for preschool children is an honourable profession which has not been recognized for its value to our society. It is unpaid work, but it is still work and it deserves to be recognized.
As a consequence, one of the first bills that I put into this place was a private member's bill to permit income splitting between spouses, so that one could stay at home and care for preschool children. It was not to suggest that somehow we simply share an income fifty-fifty, but that we should recognize that the income of a family belongs to that family and that the tax rule should recognize that it is a good relationship and that a strong Canadian family is very important to healthy outcomes of children. We wanted to send that message.
Mothers and fathers both have an important role to play with children, yet family breakdown is probably the single largest cause of child poverty in Canada. In fact, 15% of all families in Canada are lone parent families and account for 54% of all children living in poverty. If we want to eliminate child poverty, we have to be prepared to deal with the dysfunction and the breakdown of the Canadian family. That is not a view held by all members in this place, but we should think about it because statistically that is the fact.
I wrote a number of small books on some issues. I remember in one of them I defined what I felt was real love. I described real love as being a situation where one person has put the interests of another ahead of his or her own.
When we think about it, for instance, when a couple in terms of having children makes a decision to have one parent withdraw from the paid labour force to care for the children, the family is losing a net paycheque. It is an expensive proposition. Their value system and belief is to put the children's interests first, because they know how important it is particularly during the first three years of life. That is when the brain is being wired. It is when children are being influenced in terms of their cognitive abilities. That is the investment the parents want to make. It is short term pain, but it is long term gain.
I was very disappointed that the OECD would characterize our current day care situation as being glorified babysitting. I am awfully afraid that any moneys we are going to throw at this has not been dedicated to anything new, but rather may be putting clean oil into the old dirty oil. We may not see better outcomes in terms of child care delivery systems.
We must be very careful in this debate. I think I understand. I certainly am a champion on behalf of families that choose to provide direct parental care. In my value system no one can provide better care, that secure, consistent attachment of an engaged, committed adult, than the mother and the father. That is my value system. It is not necessarily shared by all, but I will be here to defend it.
I also intend in this Parliament to do work again on fetal alcohol syndrome. I have told this House so many times about the linkages between criminal activity and the mental health condition called fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
In the last Parliament we had evidence that 50% of the people in Canada's jails suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome or other alcohol related birth defects. If we want to address real crime in Canada, there is also a non-violent element. That is the problem of maternal consumption of alcohol which causes mental health in a very large percentage of our children.
I have some other priorities. I am hoping that we will look at matters to do with the aging society, the underground economy, and a prosperity agenda, because good fiscal policy makes good social policy and good social policy makes good fiscal policy.