I don't really know my neighbours very well, but if they ever find themselves struggling, I want to help.
Conservative MP James Moore made some bizarre comments regarding child poverty. Moore is the Minister of Industry, and suggested it isn't job to feed his neighbour's kids, implying the federal government has no role to play in poverty across the nation.
When many of us see children in poverty, we see a tragedy, a person who doesn't have the same opportunity and future that the rest of us have. It's unfortunate that we have people in the highest offices of the country who see those same children and consider them lost causes who expressly do not deserve the same opportunity as everyone else.
For people like Moore, it isn't a village that is necessary to raise a child. When he says it isn't his job to feed his neighbour's kids, he is suggesting that children should grow up in isolation, to submit to whatever burden may have been placed on them by circumstances they may have been born into.
His comments are the exact opposite of what I hope Canadians hold as a national value, namely, helping people who are struggling. It flies in the face of the sentiment that Canadians help and care for one another. Put very simply, Moore's comment is un-Canadian.
We help one another. We realize that nobody is an island, everybody is part of the community and community is family.
I want to help. I want everyone to have the opportunities that I had and do have. As someone who grew up in a lower-middle-class environment, I would hope everyone has at least what I had growing up, access to food and opportunities for extra-curricular activities and time to express myself.
When we hear our American brothers and sisters talk public health care, most of us scoff at the arguments against such a system. It's ridiculous to hear people say that if their neighbour gets sick they don't deserve some sort of safety net or access to treatment unless they alone can pay for it.
If my neighbour gets sick, I'm happy to contribute to a system that will provide treatment.
The same goes for hungry kids. No, we don't need the federal government to run breakfast programs in schools across the country, and in that way, Moore is right. Some schools do benefit from breakfast programs, and those can be run at the local level, like the one at Hillcrest School in Estevan. But I hope Moore would rather contribute to one in his neighbourhood than gleefully flip a middle finger to his neighbour's hungry kids.
Of course, this goes far beyond the organization and implementation of local breakfast programs, and that's where the federal government does have a role to play, so I hope Moore is up to the task. It's his job to advocate for the poor and ensure there are avenues for people to prosper even if they experience times of little means.
As Canadians, we have a real interest in the welfare of everyone in the country because nobody benefits when people suffer. The federal government definitely has a role to play when it comes to poverty. We take great value in supporting one another. That's one of those great things that make us Canadians.
We're helpful people. It's what connects us. It's what keeps us from fearing our neighbours, and it keeps our doors open to those in need. It's what keeps us smiling at strangers we pass on the street and exchanging a friendly hello.
Caring for our neighbours is an intrinsic Canadian value, and if Moore can't share that with his neighbours, maybe Canada isn't the place for him.
