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Speech
From Throne
Throne Speech 2001
Children and Families
January 30, 2001
In the new economy -- where knowledge and
creativity are the pillars of national success -- achieving a better quality of
life will require – as never before – a population that is adaptable,
resilient and that is ready to learn throughout life.
It is also clear that the foundation for such
capacities -- for Canada’s future prosperity and a better quality of life --
is laid in the very early years of life.
A good start is essential to a child’s
well-being and success in life. The strength of our society will depend on the
investments we make today – as a nation – in families and children.
Canadians want their governments to work in
partnership with parents, and the private and voluntary sector to ensure that
all children are equipped with the capacities they need to be ready to learn
when they begin school, and to grow into healthy, productive adults.
A generation ago, Canadians took up the challenge
of eliminating poverty among seniors. And ensuring that no Canadian child
suffers the debilitating effects of poverty is a top priority of our government.
A Record of Achievement
We have committed $ 2.2 billion over the
next five years to the Early Childhood Development Agreement with the provinces.
We have doubled the length of maternity and
parental benefits under Employment Insurance as of January 1st this year.
We have continued to increase the Canada Child
Tax Benefit, so that a family will benefit by more than $2,500 for a first child
by 2004 -- and we have lowered the income threshold so that middle-income
families can now benefit.
The Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program to assist
at-risk pregnant women. There are 277 projects in more than 680 urban
and rural communities across Canada, with one-quarter of participants being
Aboriginal.
We have created the Aboriginal Head Start program
-- an investment of close to $50 million per year -- which benefits
thousands of First Nations, Inuit and Metis pre-school children and their
families.
New child support laws include guidelines for
determining child support amounts and changes in the tax treatment of child
support.
2001 SFT Commitments
The Government will continue to take action to
help disadvantaged families with children break the cycle of poverty and
dependency; and to ensure that all families have access to the services and
supports they need to care for their children.
We will make special efforts to provide young
Aboriginal Canadians with the basic tools they need to take greater advantage of
the opportunities Canada has to offer.
We will:
- Build on successful employment support pilot
programs by working with the provinces and territories to develop new measures
to help single parents overcome poverty and become more self-sufficient;
- Work
with the provinces to modernize the laws for child support, custody and access,
to ensure that they work in the best interests of the children in cases of
family breakdown;
- Take steps to enable parents to provide care to a gravely ill
child without fear of sudden income or job loss;
- Work with First Nations to
improve and expand the early childhood development programs and services
available in their communities;
- Expand significantly the Aboriginal Head Start
program to better prepare more Aboriginal children for school, and help those
with special needs; and
- Adopt measures to significantly reduce the number
of Aboriginal newborns affected by Fetal Alcohol Syndrome by the end of this
decade.
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