Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to present a petition today on behalf of the residents of British Columbia. The petition was initiated by the Elizabeth Fry Society, which celebrated its 80th anniversary last month.
Highly mobile children face specific challenges because of homelessness or the incarceration or substance abuse of their parents. These petitioners draw our attention to the obstacles these children face in receiving the government benefits that children in less precarious situations easily access. We must do more to remove the barriers between these often invisible children and programs like the Canada child benefit and the child special allowance. Revenue Canada requirements and all ministries must consider the context of poverty in developing program requirements to ensure that the poor can meet them. We must ensure that each and every child in Canada can receive, without discrimination, the supports they need to enjoy the rights guaranteed to them by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
I would like to thank the petitioners, staff and volunteers of the Elizabeth Fry Society for highlighting these challenges faced by our society's most vulnerable children.