December 21, 1988 (34th Parliament, 1st Session)

Ms. Dawn Black (New Westminster-Burnaby):

Mr. Speaker, Christmas is a time of good food, family, and friends. At Christmas we indulge our loved ones, especially our children.
How sad that this Christmas over one million children in impoverished families will be disappointed. How ironic that, in a country as rich as ours, one out of every six children is denied proper nutrition, housing, and clothing. We allow the potential of all of these children to be jeopardized by a miserly and outdated attitude towards social policy.
The Child Poverty Action Group tells us that over
300,000 children in Ontario, our richest province, are poor. In my own province of British Columbia 126,300 children are disadvantaged, much higher than the national average, and they are going to school hungry.
The National Council on Welfare warns us that the federal Government is systematically cutting all child benefits by 3 per cent a year.

December 21, 1988
Oral Questions
Our children are safe and warm. Is that why we don't care?