Mr. Speaker, every year on June 12, World Day Against Child Labour is observed to raise awareness of the plight of millions of children who are involved in child labour and vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. This year the focus is on the importance of quality education as a key step in tackling child labour.
Our government is committed to ensuring that the best interests of children are given priority, including access to education. Children should be learning and developing their skills in school, not working in factories.
That is why we recently tabled in this House the International Labour Organization's Convention 138 on minimum age.
One of the convention's key objectives is to ensure that children and young workers do not leave school to join the workforce full time. This important step towards ratifying a core convention demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that all children can pursue an education and enjoy their childhood.