(Ottawa) Justin Trudeau’s government (re)puts the idea of creating a national school food program on the table on Monday, in a new chapter of Liberal pre-budgetary wiping. On the Quebec side, we are already demanding the “unconditional” check.
The proposed program, which will be contained in the April 16 budget, will be launched with the objective of providing meals to 400,000 more children each year, thanks to an investment of one billion over five years, announced the first Minister in the Greater Toronto Area.
“The national school feeding program is a game-changer. It will help ease the pressure families are feeling, invest directly in our children’s futures and ensure they are happy, healthy and able to reach their full potential,” he said. he declared.
“This is a question of fairness,” he added, emphasizing the announced theme of the next budget to be tabled by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. The country’s top financier, who was present at the announcement, signaled her intention to roll out the program starting in the 2024-2025 school year.
About one in four children (24.3%, or approximately 1,765,000 children) lived in households affected by food insecurity in 2022 in Canada, according to a report based on data collected by Statistics Canada produced by a research group from the University of Toronto.
Even more alarming: more than two thirds (69%) of these children, or 1.2 million children, lived in households experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity, we also read in this voluminous document.
In the 2023 budget, the Breakfast Club deplored the fact that no financial commitment to the implementation of a pan-Canadian school nutrition program had been put forward – especially since the Liberals had promised the billion during the 2021 election campaign.
The organization therefore welcomed “with enthusiasm” the “historic” announcement made on Monday. “This significant progress marks a turning point in the country’s commitment to the well-being of all children,” said the Breakfast Club.
Quebec wants the money unconditionally
The Club is one of the many partners who will be called upon to participate in the concrete implementation of this program, another which does not fall under federal jurisdiction. Justin Trudeau did not deny it, saying he was aware that “each province and territory has its food programs”.
But he brandished the billion as an argument. “We know that there are still needs in the provinces and territories across the country, so we consider it a federal responsibility to increase aid to ensure that more children have access to nutritious meals in their school,” he argued.
“Education being a field of exclusive jurisdiction in Quebec, it goes without saying that we ask to receive these sums, without any conditions,” reacted promptly the Quebec minister responsible for Canadian Relations, Jean-François Roberge.
He criticized Ottawa for failing to manage the “pressing issues” within its jurisdiction, once again citing the issue of immigration: “If it really wants to help our schools, it should first settle the proportion disproportionate number of asylum seekers sent to Quebec; a situation with tangible consequences for our public services.”
Positions of other parties
The New Democratic Party (NDP) campaigned for a pan-Canadian program. Moreover, an hour before Justin Trudeau’s announcement, New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh, also in Toronto, summoned the media to demand that the budget contain this measure.
The party, which has ensured the survival of the minority Liberal government in the House of Commons for more than two years now, argued that “no elected representative should block or delay this program which will help thousands of families across the country.”
We are targeting here, in particular, the troops of Pierre Poilievre. Last December, the Conservatives voted against Liberal Serge Cormier’s private member’s bill C-322, which aims to establish a school food program.
The Bloc Québécois voted in favor of the legislative measure. About two months before the vote in question, MP Sylvie Bérubé sent a letter to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to remind her of the Liberal commitment.
New communication strategy
Justin Trudeau was on his third day of pre-budget announcements on Monday. Last week, he proposed measures on housing which were received coldly in Quebec, then investments to improve the national daycare network.
This new communication strategy is being deployed while the Conservative Party is well ahead of the Liberal Party in voting intentions. The most recent projection from polling aggregator 338 Canada, dated March 31, gives 42% to the Conservatives, 24% to the Liberals and 19% to the New Democrats.