Federal government commits to creation of national school food program
CBC
The federal government says it will launch a national school food program, hoping to deliver meals to an additional 400,000 children per year.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland made the announcement during an event in Toronto on Monday, the latest in a series of public appearances by the prime minister and his cabinet ministers ahead of the federal budget planned for April 16.
"We all want kids to have the best start in life, including the most vulnerable," Trudeau said during the event.
"When a kid walks up before class and says 'I'm hungry,' it means we all have more work to do as a school community and as a country."
The federal government will spend $1 billion over five years to implement the program. That figure mirrors a 2021 campaign promise made by the governing Liberals.
Freeland said the government hoped to have the program in place for the 2024-2025 school year.
Canada is the only G7 country that does not have a national school food program, according to the Breakfast Club of Canada. Advocates have argued that a national program is needed to fill gaps left by a patchwork of provincial, local and charitable programs that are under strain due to low resources and high food prices.
"Canadian families are struggling. With inflation pushing food prices to stratospheric levels, we know that a national school food program would help children and youth access nutritious food, which would then support their mental health, behaviour and study habits," Debbie Field, co-ordinator of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, said in a Feb. 27 media statement.
The school food program is not one of the policy provisions set out under the Liberal-NDP supply-and-confidence deal, which has seen the New Democrats support the government in key votes for two years. But the NDP recently called for the federal government to implement a program.
"Parents are doing everything they can to take care of their kids, but the cost of food just keeps going up," NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in a media statement last month. "In a country as rich as ours, no child should ever have to go to school hungry."
In a post on social media on Monday, Singh referred to the program as a "demand" of his party.
Provinces have jurisdiction over education in Canada. Trudeau said Monday the government would work with provinces, territories and Indigenous partners on implementing the program, including through augmentations to existing policies.
Trudeau defended a series of measures to which the government committed significant monetary resources — such as pharmacare, dental care and child care programs — even as it commits to fiscal responsibility in the upcoming budget.
Last December, Conservatives voted against a private member's bill that would have established a national framework for a school food program.
More Albertans are waiting longer than clinically recommended for critical cardiac and cancer surgeries, sparking concern among health experts and calls for urgent action.
There have been four collisions involving transport trucks in northwestern Ontario in three days, prompting renewed calls for action to address ongoing safety concerns along Highway 11-17.
Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives will huddle behind closed doors at a policy convention this weekend as some Tories question the party’s direction after nearly eight years in power.
The father of a three-year-old girl that was killed after being struck by a vehicle in Cambridge in mid-December says recent charges laid to the driver bring little comfort and relief.
The start of kindergarten can be a time of excitement or anxiety for parents, guardians and children — and also for Prince Edward Island's education officials as they try to staff schools appropriately.
Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corporation (NNC)’s proposed hydro project is facing some backlash in Pangnirtung.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will take to the stage Friday for what could be one of the most important speeches of his political career as he tries to convince delegates at the party's Calgary convention to keep him in the job.
As his flight departed from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport en route to Kuwait via Istanbul, Canadian crypto fugitive Andean Medjedovic was unaware that his globe-trotting lifestyle would soon be halted.
One of the largest taxi companies in Toronto will be down to three wheelchair-accessible cabs by the end of March, as advocates and providers say the city is failing to support accessible taxi drivers.
As a deep freeze continues to envelop southwestern Ontario at the same time municipalities deal with a pressing shortage of road salt, there's a renewed focus on finding different ways to melt road ice.
Dave Lawson is a proud Canadian who has bumper stickers that say "Canada is not for sale." He's fed up with grocery products plastered with maple leaves and patriotic logos that turn out to be American imports.
The Town of Badger has issued an evacuation order for some residents as water levels on the Exploits River continue to rise.
The head of a national seniors' advocacy organization says protecting nursing home residents from sexual abuse is an important but challenging issue.