Mr. Speaker, I realize that I am the one who is stopping everybody from getting out of here today, but I can assure them I will be using all my time, so everyone can just relax and sit tight.
I am honoured to speak to this motion. I enjoyed hearing my colleague from Essex talk about adoption. I appreciate the comments from the member for Dartmouth—Cole Harbour and his response to adoption, and the comments as well from the Bloc and the NDP members.
Adoption is a very serious and important issue. In my past life, before I became a member of Parliament, I was on the board of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. As a matter of fact, I was one of the founding board members in this country. The Dave Thomas Foundation in the U.S. has done great work about awareness and trying to get people to understand the process, what goes on, how difficult it is to let people know children are out there and able to be adopted.
As my friend from Essex mentioned, the sad truth is it is a very complicated process. There are a lot of obstacles along the way. It is unfortunate that in this day and age some people find it much easier to go across the world to adopt children. While this is a great thing, the challenge is there are still thousands and thousands of children here in Canada who need to be adopted.
I fully support the essence of what the member is doing. I support the motion. The member for Dartmouth—Cole Harbour talked about an important study that we are working on regarding poverty. I would venture to say that when we pass this motion, and I am assuming and hoping that all members will support this motion, we should spend an equal amount of time on a study about adoption because of how important I fundamentally believe this is, not only for our nation but for all those kids out there who really need a safe and secure family home in which to live.
Once again I thank the member for bringing this important issue forward. In previous Parliaments, the member for Prince George—Peace River, our government House leader, has talked about initiatives regarding adoption. As a country, there is so much more we could do for these kids and families, and that is why I support this motion.
I welcome the opportunity to discuss this motion and how the federal government can best serve and support parents who adopt children. As I have said before, I applaud the member for Essex for seeking to help us gain a better understanding of families who have been brought together through adoption.
As any parent knows, the arrival of a child into a family is a joyous occasion marked by moments of fatigue and stress, all the more so for first-time parents. Biological parents encounter many natural and certainly trying circumstances and preparatory hurdles with which they must deal. As for parents who adopt a child, there are altogether different but no less challenging processes and issues to consider. The comparison of these issues among groups of parents would be a worthy area of study for our human resources committee.
A good question for us all here could be: How can we make things easier for parents and make our methods more effective?
I support the motion before us today which instructs the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, the committee I chair, to examine current federal support measures available to adoptive parents and their adoptive children, because it may help us to understand this and other questions.
Such a study could provide an in-depth review of issues encountered by adoptive parents when they bring home their newly adopted child, issues such as how much time is needed to integrate the child into the family and what the parents must go through prior to adoption. Through this kind of analysis, the study could uncover evidence that points the way forward and shines a light on existing policies, including making suggestions related to the current support provided through the employment insurance program's special benefits.