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QUESTION PERIOD — Employment and Social Development

National School Food Policy

November 22, 2022


Government leader, the Leader of the Opposition attempted to get some straight answers, and clearly all he got was talking points about what a great job the government has done.

I can tell you that, in the last couple of weeks, I have been meeting with people on the front lines, with middle-class and poor communities, directors of school boards and teachers. There is a sad and historic fact that kids are going to school with hungry stomachs. There are currently soup kitchens with record demand in our city of Montreal.

Don’t tell us what the government has done so successfully, because what I got back from teachers and school board directors is that kids are showing up with no supplies, old shoes and boots, worn-out coats and hungry stomachs. Don’t tell us the successes, because these are facts; we can tour the school boards together in Montreal. Tell us how this is going to be resolved.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate) [ - ]

This is a serious problem, and thank you for raising it. One in five kids go to school hungry. Those of you who watch “Les coulisses du pouvoir” would have seen Minister Gould just this past Sunday explain the work she has begun with her counterparts across the country to see if a proper national policy and framework for food security for students can be implemented. It will not be an easy task, given exclusive provincial jurisdiction over education and health. Nonetheless, it is the responsibility of all Canadians to make sure that our kids are properly supported when they go to school.

This government is taking the lead in initiating that with provinces and territories, and I hope, as I’m sure we all do, that they succeed.

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