Mr. Speaker, we will not be supporting the motion before the House. The motion is a transparent attempt to reopen the abortion debate that we have clearly said we have no intention to get into. By voting against the motion, we are proving that we will not reopen the abortion debate.
In addition, the motion contains rash, extreme anti-American rhetoric that we cannot as a matter of foreign policy support.
This government cares about saving the lives of mothers and children. That is why Canada is championing a major initiative on maternal and child health at Canada's G8 this year. As the Prime Minister wrote in his opinion piece announcing this year's G8 meeting:
Members of the G8 can make a tangible difference in maternal and child health and Canada will be making this the top priority in June. Far too many lives and unexplored futures have already been lost for want of relatively simple health-care solutions.
Our presidency of the 2010 G8 allows us to mobilize our international partners and to work together to take effective action that will improve the lives of millions of mothers and children around the world.
In the weeks ahead, we will be consulting and working with other partners, including our G8 counterpartners, to help bring about this change. Cleaner water, more vaccinations and better nutrition, along with the training of health care workers to care for new mothers and babies, will be the top priority in this new maternal and child health initiative.
CIDA's mandate is to reduce poverty in developing countries and especially for the most vulnerable populations, including women and children. Through its children and youth strategy, the Canadian International Development Agency is already working to improve vulnerable women's access to maternal health care, reduce sickness and death in newborns, increase immunization and promote nutrition.
Canada is working with partner countries so their health systems will be capable of delivering better health services that are closer to home for mothers and children. We have repeatedly stressed the importance of strengthening health systems so that people will have access to quality health services.
Canada is blessed with incredible expertise and know-how in maternal and child health. Increasing access to family health services is a key programming area for international organizations supported by the Canadian International Development Agency. In addition, responding to the needs of developing country partners, many of our health services are integrated with other activities in a number of CIDA's projects.
The need is great and the opportunity we have to make a difference is real.
Canada has a real opportunity to bring the issue of maternal and child health to the forefront of the world stage. The G8 development ministers meeting in Halifax will set the stage for the June first ministers meeting.
We cannot talk about international development without thinking about the context of human rights. Human rights are a central theme of Canadian foreign policy because respect for human rights is a core Canadian value. We recognize that Canadians expect their government to be a leader in the field of human rights by reflecting and promoting Canadian values, including democracy and the rule of law on the international stage.
This government is well aware that women and the realization of women's rights are central to achieving sustainable development results. Increasing evidence has demonstrated that equality between women and men is necessary eradicate poverty.
In the service of its mandate and consistent with international human rights standards, CIDA seeks to address the barriers of exclusion and discrimination that often exist, so as to extend the benefits of development to the most marginalized peoples and to achieve meaningful development results.
CIDA is working to integrate equality between women and men and good practice principles of inclusion, participation, equality and non-discrimination through its developmental work. That is why they figure prominently in all three of CIDA's priorities: increasing food security; securing the future for children and youth; and sustainable economic growth.
The third priority reflects the fact that focusing on children and youth is one of the best ways to achieve long-term development and poverty reduction. CIDA aims to achieve concrete results that will make a significant sustainable difference in the lives of children and youth. Special attention will be focused on young women and girls because investment in girls and women brings great social and economic returns to their societies. All children have a right to be healthy, receive quality education and grow up in a safe and secure society.
CIDA is committed to helping children and youth in developing countries attain their full potential to become the strong, positive and engaged citizens of tomorrow. For this reason, on Universal Children's Day, the Minister of International Cooperation outlined CIDA's children and youth strategy, which will respond to the needs of the world's most vulnerable and help them become resourceful, engaged and productive young men and women.
CIDA's children and youth strategy will focus on three paths: child survival, including maternal health; access to quality education; and safe and secure futures for children and youth.
Under the safety and security path in this strategy, CIDA will support developing countries with a view to fulfilling the following priorities for action: strengthen and implement national protection legislation and mechanisms to safeguard the human rights and security of children and youth and to protect them, particularly girls, against violence and exploitation; ensure that schools are safe, free from violence and are child-friendly spaces for learning; and support efforts to help youth at risk find alternatives to violence and crime and engage as constructively as full members of society.
Under the child survival and maternal health path of CIDA's children and youth strategy, the government will contribute to ensuring mothers and children have access to the services, medicines and nutrition needed to lead healthy lives.
In addition to programming specific maternal health, CIDA is working to ensure we can make a difference in the lives of children living in developing countries. CIDA recognizes that we need to work with our G8 partners, improving maternal and child health. The maternal and child health discussion is not about what we are including or not including. It is about simple measures that focus on saving the lives of 500,000 pregnant mothers who die annually during childbirth and pregnancy. This initiative is about the nine million children who do not make it past their fifth birthday. This initiative is about providing health services, nutrition and clean water.
I realize that we sometimes tend to play politics in this House. I understand that the job of the opposition is to criticize the government, but I hope we can eventually find a common ground when it comes to maternal and child health.