Hon. Karina Gould, P.C., M.P., Minister of Families, Children and Social Development: Absolutely, Senator Black. Thank you so much for raising the question, because this is something that is really important. This cannot be an urban/rural distinction. We have to ensure that child care is available right across the country.

This is a very small example but one I’m excited about in Grayson, Saskatchewan. There is a new public child care facility that is going to be opened in the fall, and that has been funded through the Canada-wide early learning child care agreement with the Government of Saskatchewan. We’re working very closely with provinces and territories to ensure that they’re reaching into those spaces where there is an absence of child care and working with potential operators to open those spaces.

I mention this one because it’s one that’s coming online and it’s going to serve a community that never had child care access before. When it comes to working in remote and northern communities, we have specific engagements and commitments from provinces and territories to make sure that this really is reaching right across the country. There are specific infrastructure challenges in more remote and northern communities. So I’m really keen to dig into the $625-million infrastructure fund that we received in the last budget and see how we can target that specifically to meet those needs.

I heard particularly from the territories about the high costs of infrastructure. So we’re going to work very closely with them to meet those demands. Thank you for raising it.

Hon. Marty Deacon: My question concerns the matter of a child and youth commissioner. It’s been 15 years since the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights asked the government of the day to establish a commissioner for children and youth, but we are still without one.

In the last Parliament, my colleague Senator Moodie introduced legislation that would have created one, but it died on the Order Paper when the election was called.

As a reminder, a 2020 UNICEF Report Card ranked Canada thirtieth out of thirty-eight rich countries in terms of child well-being. Compounding matters is two years of a pandemic that has taken a toll on absolutely everyone, but especially young people.

Moving forward, I think it would be wise to have more tools to support our young Canadians. My question is: Does the government see the utility of a child and youth commissioner? If so, would it support legislation to that end? Thank you.