Speech From Throne 

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.

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.