Statement made on 01 November 2011 by Senator Wilfred Moore
Hon. Wilfred P. Moore:
Honourable senators, I rise today to mark the release of HungerCount, the annual report from Food Banks Canada, and to bring your attention to a growing problem in Canada.
March 2011 saw the second highest usage of food banks in this country since 2008. In fact, food banks usage has risen 26 per cent since 2008. Each month in Canada, 851,000 people find themselves having to access a food bank. Honourable senators, 322,000 of this total are children. Forty-seven per cent of that 851,000 are women. Twenty-four per cent identified themselves as First Nations, Metis or Inuit. Almost 20 per cent were immigrants. Five per cent were seniors.
Honourable senators, 12 per cent of those using food banks are actually working but cannot afford food for their families. Over 90,000 Canadians visit food banks for the first time each month. This is a disgraceful situation, which cries out for attention.
In my own province of Nova Scotia, 22,000 people sought assistance from food banks. Fully one third were children, and that represents an increase of 32 per cent in total use since 2010 in Nova Scotia.
Food Banks Canada recommends three main means of reducing the need for food banks in Canada. First, invest in affordable housing so that Canadians do not have to choose between paying rent and feeding their families. Second, modernize employment insurance to better support older workers who have lost their permanent jobs. Third, create federally led programs to ensure that Canadian jobs are well-paying jobs.
Honourable senators, in light of these concerning numbers, I would ask the government to move to alleviate the pressure on Canadian families who can no longer provide the food their families need.
After all, Canada is one of the wealthiest nations on Earth. We should, as a society, provide the basics for our citizens so that they may have the dignity of providing for themselves and their families.