It's been 22 years since the House of Commons voted unanimously
to eradicate child poverty in Canada by 2000. All parties
supported the motion and it appeared that we were finally on the
right track to ensuring that no child ever had to grow up hungry
or homeless again. However, a new report from Campaign 2000
reveals that over two decades later 639,000 children are still
living in poverty. That's one in 10 children. Aboriginal
children are in an even worse situation, with a shocking one in
four children who are living on reserves below the poverty line.
What's more alarming is that one in three children who live in
poverty have at least one parent working full time. If the
number of Canadians still fighting to make ends meet isn't
disturbing enough, the costs associated with poverty certainly
are. Estimates currently say that poverty costs Canada a minimum
of $24 billion a year, with 20 per cent of all health care costs
directly attributed to poverty. Look at it this way, a child
born into poverty has a grea