Howie calls for end to child poverty

Howard Hampton
M.P.P.

It is often said - you judge a society by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens.
In our society, many of those most vulnerable citizens are children. According to the latest Ontario figures, one child in six lives in poverty. That’s an astonishing 443,000 children. If you brought them all together, they would number more than three times the city of Thunder Bay.
We share a tremendously wealthy province. Why then, do so many children lack the basic necessities of life like food, clothing and shelter?
Over the years, there has been a lot of talk about child poverty. In 1989, for example, the House of Commons unanimously resolved to eliminate poverty among Canadian children by the year 2000. That deadline came and went. Six years on, one child in six still suffers.
The question for all of us today is: What are we prepared to do to make child poverty history?
The good news is that Ontarians are generous people. We have a history of helping others. For years, people have helped family members, friends and neighbours in times of need. We have done it through charities, community organizations, faith communities and through personal acts of kindness. We have also helped collectively through government action, opening the door of opportunity for young people by providing universal Medicare and high-quality public education.
Yes, we have accomplished a lot, but that’s no answer to an undernourished child, or a child who lacks the opportunity to succeed.
What can be done? Lots. The first thing we could do to help Ontario’s poorest children right now, right away, is to stop the clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement. It is hard to believe but the Ontario government actually intercepts and keeps for itself $1,500 of the federal baby bonus directed at the poorest children. The National Child Benefit Supplement often referred to as the baby bonus was introduced in 1997 to prevent and reduce child poverty in Canada. That year, the Ontario government started taking a cut of the federal money from children receiving social assistance. It is still doing it today.
Stopping the clawback would make a real difference. One study by Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank estimates it would cut in half the number of kids forced to use food banks.
Before the election, Dalton McGuinty said it was wrong to take money away from Ontario’s poorest children. He said: “The clawback is wrong.” He was right. Being poor is no child’s fault. And it’s certainly no reason to punish a kid by taking away money meant to improve their lives.
The McGuinty government has a $3-billion budget windfall this year. It should stop the clawback and help end child poverty.