Mr. Speaker, I stand today on behalf of the Board of Education of School District No. 20, Kootenay—Columbia, which has asked me to read its letter to the chamber. It states:
November 20th, 2009 marked the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, the Canadian government does not appear to take children's rights seriously nor does our government appear to implement the UN Convention in Canada in order to ensure fair treatment for all children in our country.
The board specifically urges the government to ensure greater equity in Canada's national income support programs for children, to put the best interests of children ahead of federal-provincial funding disputes, to provide help for special needs before young persons become wards of the state or end up in prison, and to provide accountability on how Canada respects the rights of children.
Forty-five recommendations from the 2003 report regarding the implementation of the convention have not been addressed, and the January 2009 report is nowhere to be seen. The board of education recommends that the federal government take seriously our responsibility to respect children as persons with human rights, dignity and value in society, and that it addresses the issue of child poverty.