Statement made on 03 December 2009 by Senator Art Eggleton
Hon. Art Eggleton:
Honourable senators, this question was submitted in advance.
November 24 marked the twentieth anniversary of National Child Day; a day that commemorates the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the United Nations General Assembly. Canada ratified that convention in December 1991.
Instead of improving the state of children's welfare in Canada since then, we have hardly made a dent in eliminating child poverty in Canada, and that was during times when both the Liberals and Conservatives have been in government.
Sadly, approximately 637,000 of the 3.4 million Canadians living in poverty are children, with double-digit rates of child poverty in most provinces. The creation of the Working Income Tax Benefit and the stabilization of the Canadian Social Transfer and the Canadian Health Transfer have helped Canadian children but, if we really want to make a dent in child poverty, experts continue to point to the necessity of a substantial increase in the National Child Benefit.
Will the government commit to an incremental and predictable increase in the National Child Benefit to reach the level of $5,000, which has been recommended by many organizations, including the Caledon Institute?
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