Senator Gold: Thank you for your question. The government is not doing nothing. The government has pursued — and is continuing to investigate — these matters, and it will continue to do so in an appropriate way.

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): About three weeks ago, leader, the Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency told a committee of the other place that to further investigate the $15.5 billion paid out to recipients for the wage subsidy “. . . wouldn’t be worth the effort.”

To provide some context, $15.5 billion would pay for more than three years of new spending — announced last week — for provincial health care services.

I think the middle-class Canadians that the Prime Minister likes to talk about would be mystified that billions of their tax dollars are considered inconsequential by this government.

Last week, the Parliamentary Budget Officer told our National Finance Committee that this is disconcerting, and I quite agree with him.

Why doesn’t the Trudeau government believe this work is worth the effort?

Senator Simons: That is a very good question. In my speech, I didn’t really delve into — I was having too much fun, perhaps — whether having a commission is the best strategy, as opposed to letting individual broadcasters, or journalistic organizations, organize the debates. I know that someone close to your family was involved in the recent provincial debate in Quebec as a journalist crafting very careful questions. What is that expression? “A camel is a horse designed by a committee.” It may be that there are too many cooks.

The challenge is that when you have this many leaders, getting them all on stage at one time — when it is not necessarily in everyone’s strategic interest — is very difficult. The fact that we had only one English-language debate was very frustrating to me since I, apparently, have an unslakable thirst to quench. I always find that watching the French-language debate is often much more interesting.

(On motion of Senator Clement, debate adjourned.)

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the inquiry of the Honourable Senator Coyle, calling the attention of the Senate to the importance of finding solutions to transition Canada’s society, economy and resource use in pursuit of a fair, prosperous, sustainable and peaceful net-zero emissions future for our country and the planet.

Hon. Mary Jane McCallum, pursuant to notice of December 13, 2022, moved:

That the Standing Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples be authorized to examine and report on the misrepresentation of Indigenous ancestry, inadequate self‑identification standards and the profound effects that such identity fraud has on further marginalizing Indigenous people, in particular Indigenous women; and

That the committee submit its final report no later than December 31, 2023.

She said: Honourable senators, I rise today to speak to Motion No. 96, which states:

That the Standing Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples be authorized to examine and report on the misrepresentation of Indigenous ancestry, inadequate self‑identification standards and the profound effects that such identity fraud has on further marginalizing Indigenous people, in particular Indigenous women . . . .

I want to acknowledge Senator Brazeau, who introduced Motion No. 371 on September 20, 2018, regarding the issue of selling fraudulent membership cards.

Colleagues, it is important to acknowledge that all the work I do in the Senate is not mine alone but is always a collective effort that arises from the context of struggle, whether the struggle is righting historical wrongs or addressing current gaps in policy and legislation. It is important to bring to light that the fight surrounding these injustices is a burden carried most heavily by Indigenous women, as it harms humans and all our relations. Our work, as Indigenous women, has and will always remain a collective effort because that’s who esquiwak are.

I wish to thank the Indigenous Women’s Collective and acknowledge the work they have done on the issue of Indigenous identity theft and fraud. It is on their behalf that I bring this matter to the Senate floor.

Honourable senators, I wish to speak to the word “identity” at the outset. Kim TallBear, a Native/Indigenous studies and technology scholar, has analyzed race shifting cases in both the U.S. and Canada since the early 2000s, particularly as they relate to genetic research and testing. In the article “Native ‘Identity’ Fraud is not Distraction, but the Final Indian Bounty,” Kim TallBear states that:

Playing Indian is the increasingly common practice of non‑Indigenous (most often, not always white) people making especially public claims to Indigenous identity, sometimes for great financial gain and career advancement.

She cautions us about the use of the term “identity.” She states that “it is usually an individualistic word that pertains to our individual bodies and things we consider bodies’ property . . . .” Maybe the correct terms might be “relatives, relations, citizenship, kinship, and who we are or become together as collectives?”

Kim TallBear continues:

We do not want to reinforce the individualism that roots often false claims and help further erase the fact that we are making collective claims and asserting collectively-forged ideas and cultural and political authorities.

In the book Claiming Anishinaabe: Decolonizing the Human Spirit, author Lynn Gehl quotes Robert Bocock who states that:

. . . culture is best understood as a set of practices by which meanings are produced, shared, and exchanged within a group. . . . while cultural entities and meanings predate who we are, it is the collective assigning of meanings to them that allows us to appreciate what they are and the purpose they serve.

She goes on to state:

Richard Castillo agrees with this idea of one’s culture as a source of direction and agency when he argues that cultural meaning systems provide humans with representative, constructive, directive, and evocative functions.

Honourable senators, for my generation, it took living within a community to arrive at these meanings, teachings and life skills, which are taught through land-based living. Today, we have to figure out how we pass on the knowledge to future generations — many who are land-, identity- and kinship‑dispossessed through no fault of their own.

As stated by the Indigenous Women’s Collective, the most insidious harm caused by “pretendianism” is how it most hurts Indigenous people who are reconnecting to their culture and identity. Displaced Indigenous peoples need to be supported and acknowledged. “Pretendians” perversely claim the vulnerability and violence experienced by Indigenous peoples as their own and then use it to their own callous and self-centred purposes.

In the book entitled Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide, author Andrea Smith states:

Rather than adopt the strategy of fighting for sovereignty first and improving Native women’s status second, as many activists argue, we must understand that attacks on Native women’s status are themselves attacks on Native sovereignty.

Colleagues, how can it be that the policy of self-identification continues to be adopted, giving free rein to pretendians, who unjustly continue to hold and wield great power and authority over issues that are intended to be Indigenous-led? Disappointingly, this practice is supported by the very government that claims that there is no more important relationship than that with Indigenous peoples. Such self‑identification represents one part of the intellectual violence inherent to Indigenous identity fraud.

Our story as First Nations, Métis, Inuit and non-status esquiwak is about creation and ceremony of life and love; respect; courage; and understanding and celebrating our resilience through complex lessons learned from life, nature, environment and astronomy. Our story should be the one thing in life that is truly ours. It’s what has connected us to our ancestors for centuries, what has been passed down, what has kept us safe, what has motivated us to keep raising our voices for those yet to come and those who have been kept marginalized and voiceless. It is what has kept us moving toward transformational change to regain our power and spirit taken by the Church, government, the patriarchy and even those other women who purposefully give themselves power over the sovereignty of our story, and hence our legacy, and distort it.

Colleagues, I stand with the Indigenous Women’s Collective in denouncing the deceit of Indigenous identity theft. Its tentacles reach every level of academic, political, judicial and policy branches of power. Historically, colonial institutions must cease their silence now and denounce this for what it is: legitimate theft. If such institutions are committed to reconciliation, they will help to end the silence surrounding this matter, renounce its conduct and acknowledge the harm it causes to Indigenous people, particularly Indigenous women and children.

Honourable senators, as is the custom in Cree culture, I would like to introduce my kinship and my history. When Cree people meet, they ask who your parents are — a winak ke mama equa ke papa? — and where you come from — tant ke tha ochi? — as it gives them a frame of reference of who you are and what you represent.

My spirit name is Wa Ba Ne Quie: Woman of the Dawn or Woman of the East. I am from the Hawk Clan. I received my spirit name through a shaking tent ceremony when I was taking traditional medicine. My mother, Marie Adele Thomas, was Métis. Her mother’s family fled from the Selkirk area outside Winnipeg to Brochet in the early 1900s because they were afraid for their lives. My great-grandparents’ ancestors came from France and Scotland, and they married ethenewak — human beings — from Canada. Ethenewak is the word we had for ourselves before the Indian Act.

My mother’s father came from Cumberland House, Saskatchewan. My mother passed on in 1957 from thyroid cancer. My remembrance of her comes from stories of family and elders, and she was remembered for being a caring and hardworking mother who had many skills.

I was sent to residential school three weeks after she passed on, and I have not dealt with that trauma to this day, as I have repressed my memories of this time in my life. When my mother married my father, she became treaty and was defined as such by outsiders, the church and the Indian agent, a fantastic woman afforded little to no significance by settlers.

My father, Horace McCallum, was a treaty Indian and arrived in Brochet when he was 16. His mother was from Shoal Lake and his father from Peter Ballantyne, both in Saskatchewan. My father was a hunter, trapper, educator and a single parent. He was determined, innovative, fearless and observant.

In the first years when he started trapping at the age of 16, he walked to his trap line in minus-40-degree weather because he didn’t have a dog team and he pulled the sled behind him. He remains, to this day, my greatest teacher, mentor and role model. He never allowed the colonial system to define him and his life, and I hope I’m staying true to him and following in his footsteps.

Honourable senators, what would you think if I told you that today I have decided that I am going to be a White woman? This country has expended massive amounts of money, time and effort to remove the Indian from me, attempting to remove language, culture, environment and spirituality. They have taught me sin; about the negative aspects of childhood, girlhood and womanhood; derogatory words from your language, such as savage; and the subordinate role that women play. They have developed policies and strategies to keep Indigenous people oppressed while at the same time benefiting because systematically oppressing us provides others with jobs. What do you think? Would you accept me if I were to become White? Would I be treated differently? Isn’t it a ridiculous concept and proposition?

Colleagues, I would like to close with a joint message from the Indigenous Women’s Collective and me.

In Cree, iskotew means fire in a woman’s heart. We have witnessed courage in and with so many Indigenous women standing up publicly to denounce the revelations of Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond’s deceit and identity fraud. Turpel‑Lafond and others like her, in their very actions, have the capability to stop and silence the advances of colonial violence on Indigenous women, advances championed by women like the Indigenous Women’s Collective. The power and prestige that these individuals who commit Indigenous identity fraud wanted, garnered and displayed publicly silenced many. It subsequently and unfairly left Indigenous women to do the work required to counteract the consequences of the theft, grief and powerlessness that they helped to create. The Indigenous women are left the challenge of holding colonial institutions accountable for enabling and protecting those who knowingly and premeditatedly practice identity fraud.

Each time an Indigenous woman stands up, she lights a fire and uplifts the forgotten, the abused and the silenced. Eden Fineday, Cindy Blackstock, Vice Chief Aly Bear, Audra Simpson and many others are examples of iskotew. What is often not shared is the pressure placed on Indigenous women privately to be quiet: Ka we the aya me — don’t speak. Even the act of preventing speech is a threat — an act of violence. Whether they are in a violent relationship or combatting systemic violence, Indigenous women have always faced the pressure to be quiet. Ka ke to — do not utter a sound. Yet we persist. This is how healing and transformative change happens in real time. So we humbly ask that you share love and support for Indigenous women who speak out because they have fought silent battles we do not see and mounting pressure kept out of the public eye. When we see courage, we need to honour it. This is consistent with the traditions of many Indigenous nations across Turtle Island, to honour the warrior and to dance the victory dance when courage defeats fear. Because that is what you are witnessing today and in the days yet to come: That courage will defeat fear. Kinanâskomitin. Thank you.

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

(Motion agreed to.)

(At 6:19 p.m., the Senate was continued until tomorrow at 2 p.m.)

Senator Gold: Thank you for your question, colleague, but I don’t subscribe to the premise, assumption or statement in your question.

As I’ve reported in this chamber, the government is looking into — two ministers have been tasked with looking into — the circumstances under which contracts are awarded, not only to McKinsey but to others. I’ve read, and as we all know, it is also the subject of inquiry in a House committee. The government looks forward to the results of both of those processes to make sure that public funds are used appropriately and in the best interests of Canadians.

The Hon. the Speaker: Is leave granted, honourable senators?

Hon. Rose-May Poirier: Honourable senators, it is with a heavy heart that I rise today to pay tribute to Viola Léger, who passed away on January 28 at the age of 92.

This great woman from Acadia brought Acadian culture to the rest of the country and the world by bringing to life the character of La Sagouine created by Antonine Maillet.

Viola Léger is beyond a shadow of a doubt one of the greatest Acadian actors. From 1971 to 2016, she performed the role of La Sagouine more than 3,000 times, in French and in English, in Acadia, Quebec, Canada and around the world. A true symbol of Acadian resilience, she embodied Acadian values, both on and off the stage: She was warm with people, generous with her time, staunchly proud of her Acadia, not to mention determined.

Viola Léger’s legacy goes beyond the stage. She opened doors for several future actors from Acadia by demonstrating that it was possible to make a living from their art. She always gave back to the community in many ways: She founded her own theatre company in 1985 and, in 1999, she created the Fondation Viola Léger, which has been awarding the Viola Léger award to support young artists with their projects since 2011.

On June 13, 2001, Viola Léger was appointed to the Senate, where she would serve until June 29, 2005. During this period, she seized every opportunity afforded by this forum to promote Acadia. In her maiden speech on November 20, 2001, Viola Léger spoke on a motion calling on the federal government to recognize August 15 as National Acadian Day. I would like to quote her speech, as my colleague did earlier:

Whether in Newfoundland, Louisiana, Caraquet, Montreal or Belle-Île-en-Mer, the Acadian soul is constantly reborn. We are intrigued, seduced and moved by it. It also makes us laugh, and sometimes cry. It makes us travel through time and space. The arts are a people’s soul. Without arts, there can be no identity. And without identity, a people cannot exist. The Acadian culture has been one of the most effective tools to ensure the future of the Acadian people.

Honourable senators, on behalf of the Conservative caucus, I offer our most sincere condolences to Viola Léger’s loved ones and to everyone in Acadia mourning the loss of its greatest ambassador, our Sagouine, who now shines in the sky like our most beautiful star. Thank you.

Hon. René Cormier: Honourable senators, since the passing of the Honourable Viola Léger on January 28, numerous tributes from Acadia, Quebec, the Canadian francophonie, France and other parts of the world have shown us how very much she meant to the Acadian people, francophones and all Canadians.

Our former Senate colleague was also a teacher, an actor and a friend. Her presence was unique and incomparable. In life and on stage, she had a remarkable talent for being in the here and now, as though nothing mattered more than the exact moment of her interaction with you as she looked you right in the eye with that bright, piercing gaze as deep as the Atlantic Ocean and as vast as the skies of Bouctouche or Abram-Village, Chéticamp or Cape St. George.

As my colleagues said, Viola Léger performed La Sagouine over 3,000 times. In a way, the character, created by the extraordinary Antonine Maillet, enabled her to tell her own story and express her feelings and reflections on life.

Society’s most vulnerable were always top of mind for Viola Léger, and she put her own stamp on the character, a daughter of cod fishers who became a cleaning woman aware of the many ways in which her kind were exploited and whose insights about life were at once clear-eyed, compassionate and poetic.

Demanding of herself and those around her, Viola played multiple roles in both of our official languages throughout her career. During her four years in the Senate, Senator Viola Léger worked tirelessly to raise awareness about Acadia and to promote the arts and culture.

She had a remarkable sense of public service. She was aware that words can bring hope and, whether on stage or in the Senate, words have a power that must be put to good use. She bit into every word as if she was taking hold of the strength and resonance of the French language, an Acadian language like a treasure to be cherished, tinged with the fear that it might disappear.

Colleagues, one of the outstanding voices of the Acadian people, of the francophone community and of the entire country has passed away. Viola Léger, a great Canadian, a wonderful Acadian, gave of herself and her life in the service of the theatre, the Acadian people and our country.

Some have said that when she passed, her voice took with it a piece of the Acadian soul. That said, I truly believe that her voice will continue to resonate for generations to come, nurturing the identity and pride of the first francophone people to set foot on this continent.

I will conclude not by quoting the same text as my colleagues, but by saying that if it is true that “the Acadian soul is constantly reborn,” that is what Viola Léger has been for us and will continue to be for the people of Acadia.

Thank you, dear Viola. Rest in peace.

[English]

Hon. F. Gigi Osler: Honourable senators, I rise today to share with you that this is Sexual Health and Reproductive Health Week, an annual campaign designed to raise awareness of sexual and reproductive health and to promote resources to improve community health in Canada.

Everyone has the fundamental right to control their own bodies, to security and to health. Reproductive rights are fundamental rights, and abortion care is health care.

Lack of access to safe, timely, inclusive and respectful information on sexual and reproductive health is a risk to one’s physical health, mental health and social well-being.

Despite this January marking 35 years since the landmark Morgentaler decision, which secured the right to legal abortion in Canada, access to abortion care remains inequitable. Legal does not mean accessible.

Significant barriers to accessible sexual and reproductive health care still exist, including the exclusion of abortion care services outside of hospitals in some provinces; limited access to timely health services in Northern remote, rural and Indigenous communities; a lack of universal contraceptive coverage; and the rise of mis- and disinformation on various health topics including gender-affirming care.

Health care providers should have more teaching on comprehensive sexual education, reproductive health, contraception and abortion care integrated into their training curriculum. Increased and permanent funding for Canada’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Fund would support community health organizations such as Action Canada for Sexual Health & Rights and the National Abortion Federation. Both organizations run toll-free hotlines and online directories to provide accurate and reliable information on pregnancy options, reproductive health services and stigma-free care.

We need to celebrate these successes and double down on our commitment in Canada to ensure that governments facilitate timely, safe and equitable access to health care for all its citizens.

As a physician and member of the Canadian Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development, I stand committed to advance work that would close gaps in access to inclusive and respectful sexual and reproductive health care in Canada and around the world.

I welcome others in joining our collective work on this front. Thank you. Meegwetch.

[Translation]

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

[Translation]

Hon. Pierrette Ringuette: Honourable senators, it is fitting that, on February 14, a day for showing our loved ones that we love them and appreciate them, we should pay our deepest respects to a wonderful woman, the late senator Viola Léger, who recently passed away at the age of 92.

Viola was a senator for New Brunswick from 2001 to 2006, during which time she served on both the Committee on Official Languages and the Committee on Aboriginal Peoples. That is no coincidence since she was a staunch advocate for minorities throughout her life.

During her years in the Senate, she regularly charmed us with her insightful poems that showed us the fundamental role of culture as a reflection of Canadian diversity, united by our common values. I don’t have time, in these three short minutes, to list all of the titles and honours that she was awarded, but they were all very well deserved.

For francophones from New Brunswick, she was our ambassador, both nationally and internationally, bringing our history to life on stage in her role as La Sagouine. Off stage, it was her smile, her intelligence and life experience that shone through.

Like the star on the Acadian flag, she was for many of us a guiding star whose wisdom and dignity served to light the way for future generations of Acadian artists, like our own Senator René Cormier and many others. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Senator Cormier, who gave an eloquent eulogy at Viola’s funeral last week. Thank you, René.

It goes without saying that, of all the roles Viola undertook during her lifetime, her performance on stage in the role of La Sagouine, from the novel of the same name written by her friend Antonine Maillet, was particularly exceptional. Every time I attended a performance, I was moved by her monologue, and the fact that she could enthrall the audience for hours, all on her own. That was just one of her many feats.

In the Senate on May 19, 2005, during her statement on the influence of culture, she said the following:

The arts play an indispensable role in our mutual understanding.

Artistic creation awakens our consciousness. It is a source of meditation, inspiration, reflection and comfort. The arts help balance us, elevate our souls, and allow us to breathe, to live. . . .

The arts define us and, above all, help us understand who we are as Canadians and what our society is all about.

Honourable senators, Viola’s statement was one of love — appropriate for us on Valentine’s Day. It shows her love for Acadia, for culture, for the arts, for Canada and for all of us who have been blessed to have known her at some point in her life.

Dear Viola, thank you so much for dedicating your life to the love of culture, and love for one another. Know that your memory will live on in our hearts.

You accomplished your life and your mission brilliantly. Rest in peace.

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.

Hon. Jane Cordy: Honourable senators, the impact of the arts on our lives should never be understated. People feel seen and understood when they see their lived experience reflected back to them. It can also foster understanding from those who are coming from a different perspective.

On behalf of the Progressive Senate Group, I rise today to recognize a former colleague and a friend who did just that. Former senator Viola Léger passed away on January 28 of this year at the age of 92. Before her appointment to the Senate by the Right Honourable Jean Chrétien in 2001, Viola dedicated her life to the arts as an actress and as a teacher, particularly known for her portrayal of La Sagouine, a role created in 1971 by her friend and author Antonine Maillet. It was a role she would play more than 3,000 times over her lifetime. Her humble, straight-talking washerwoman inspired pride among the Acadian people, but also reached far beyond the people who recognized themselves in her.

She has been described as an icon, and indeed, as the author responsible for her signature role said, if Viola Léger:

. . . hadn’t played Sagouine, Sagouine wouldn’t have had the success that it had, and therefore (I would not have) received the recognition I received as a writer.

Many Acadian artists regard Viola Léger as an inspiration and have endeavoured to pursue a life in the arts because of the path she carved. Without her influence, we cannot know the stories or the beauty we may have missed. What a marvellous legacy.

When she eventually came to this place in 2001, she was certainly someone who did not shy away from hard work. While she herself was tiny and quiet, her dedication was not. I recall that she was driven to get things done in the chamber and was not very fond of the partisan debate to which we are often prone.

She spent time as a member of the Aboriginal Peoples Committee, the Official Languages Committee and the Social Affairs Committee, and she certainly championed the arts throughout her time as a senator.

Senator Léger was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1989. She was the recipient of the 1995 New Brunswick government’s Arts Excellence Award, the Order of New Brunswick in 2007 and four honorary degrees. She was named Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of France in 1991, member of the Ordre des francophones d’Amérique in 1998 and Knight of the Ordre de la Pléiade in 2004.

Honourable senators, while Canadians, and particularly the people of New Brunswick, have lost a cherished icon, La Sagouine will sit forever in our hearts. I send my deepest condolences to her friends and to her family. Thank you.

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question.

I have endeavoured, and will continue to endeavour, to get answers as quickly as possible. I believe we have made some progress in that, as my statements and responses in the chamber will indicate.

I’ll certainly make inquiries about the questions that are outstanding and, in particular, regarding the status of questions that were asked in previous parliaments.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): I do not know what the government’s response to the report is.

I can say the following: First of all, drug-impaired driving was a problem that pre-existed the legalization of cannabis. No one assumed for a moment, in this chamber or elsewhere, that legalization would eliminate that problem.

A number of things have changed: increased attention to the detection of impaired driving, specifically drug-impaired driving; one hopes there’s stringent prosecution where such has been found and established by the evidence to be the case; and, of course, at least in some jurisdictions, increased sophisticated tests to determine and detect when somebody may be driving while impaired by drugs.

It is a serious problem. That’s why the government introduced changes to the Criminal Code, which helped assist law enforcement in detecting those who may have been driving after having consumed cannabis and its related substances.

The government, working with the provinces and territories, will continue to do what it can to keep Canadians safe on the road.

Honourable senator, it is not the position of the government that the legalization of cannabis is the driving force behind this, admittedly, serious problem affecting the safety and security of Canadians.

Senator Gold: It is not contempt. As I said in my previous answer, honourable colleague, I will continue to make every effort to get answers in a timely fashion.

[Translation]

Hon. Rosemary Moodie: Honourable senators, I rise to mark the release of the annual report by Campaign 2000 on the state of child poverty here in Canada. I want to thank and congratulate Leila Sarangi and her team, along with their many partners and stakeholders across this country, for this important work.

This year’s report focused on the impacts of income supports that were made available during the pandemic. Based on 2020 data, Campaign 2000 found that while more than 300,000 children were lifted out of poverty, one in eight still experience the short- and long-term impacts of poverty on every facet of their lives.

This means, colleagues, that at least one million children live in poverty.

Campaign 2000’s data indicates that without pandemic benefits, another half a million children would be in poverty.

Another key finding is that the Canada Child Benefit is losing its impact, and its effect on poverty reduction is increasingly minimal. Simply tying it to inflation is not enough.

I want to highlight for you, colleagues, that these findings should be contextualized in today’s setting. Rising inflation means that low-income families are struggling even more. It means that families living in poverty, many of them Black and Indigenous, need more support from government, not less. It means there is still a lot of work to be done.

Why does this matter? A democracy is only as strong as the belief citizens have in its ability to meet their needs. Having children and families struggle to make ends meet is not only a failure to meet our human rights obligations; it speaks to a need for deep change in our systems to ensure its survival. In an era where democracies are threatened, this issue cannot be ignored.

So what should we be doing, colleagues? I will highlight what Campaign 2000 proposes, namely, the advancement of a national strategy for children and youth, so that we can have a vision of the country we want for our children. They also support a deep poverty supplement to the Canada Child Benefit, which I support wholeheartedly.

Ultimately, we must recognize that child poverty is a policy choice. It is not inevitable. And we can make a choice to end it, once and for all. Thank you.