QUESTION PERIOD — Agriculture and Agri-Food
Food Security
November 20, 2024
Senator Gold, Canadians are struggling under your government. A recent report released by the Daily Bread Food Bank and the North York Harvest Food Bank paints a very grim picture of the city of Toronto.
From April of last year to March 2024, the number of client visits to Toronto food banks reached a staggering 3.5 million, and 23% of their clients are children and youth.
I was shocked when the same report points out that it took 38 years to exceed 1 million food bank visits, then only two years to surpass 2 million and just one year to reach 3 million. In the face of such a disaster, what concrete steps is your government taking to end the rapidly growing food insecurity in Canada’s major cities?
The government is aware that far too many Canadians are having a difficult time affording groceries. That’s why the government has been assisting Canadians through targeted social programs and income supplements like the Canada Child Benefit, or CCB, and the grocery rebate. The government has also made funding available to food banks and other charities.
Indeed, the cost of food is one important element in what is making life difficult for Canadians. The government has delivered on the $10-a-day child care plan. It is already saving families thousands of dollars per year — up to $8,500 in annual savings for families in Ontario.
The Canada Child Benefit sends families up to $7,787 per child under the age of 6 and $6,570 per child between ages 6 and 7 to help with the cost of groceries. Add to that the National School Food Program, which will serve 400,000 more kids the healthy meals they need at school. These are concrete solutions for families and children in need.
Senator Gold, your government released a Poverty Reduction Strategy in 2015 that came into effect in 2019. Unfortunately, the gains it achieved in the first couple of years have not been sustained. Poverty rates are now trending in the wrong direction with child poverty rates rising to 18.1% from 2021 to 2022. What measures will your government implement to stop and reverse this trend? Does the government have any plans?
The government continues to address the challenges of poverty with programs such as the ones I have mentioned. I won’t repeat them.
The government is continuing to move forward with other programs to help families, especially those in need, whether in terms of health care costs, dental care and the like. These are tangible measures the government has invested in for the benefit of Canadians.
