Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today, in anger about the plague of our young people who find themselves caught in a situation that generally ends in disaster. I am talking, Mr. Speaker, about teen pregnancy.
Although we all see pregnant young girls in each and every one of our communities, each and every day, we have become indifferent to the pain and suffering these young girls will go through. We offer little compassion or support. These young girls experience feelings of abandonment. They are lost in a limbo land, between adult and childhood, neither group accepting them within their circle.
This anguished experience has dire consequences for these young people. Alcohol and drug abuse, as well as suicide and physical abuse and little resistance to adoption or response to adoption options, all stem from society's lack of response to this issue.
This government is doing an admirable job in addressing women's issues. Women now have rape shield laws and zero tolerance to violence policies. Advances are being made every day to assist women in taking their own place in society.
What are we doing for teens? We provide public information, safe sex campaigns, AIDs campaigns and conferences on teen sexual assaults, that is all. When it comes to teen pregnancies, it embarrasses me, Mr. Speaker, that very little is being said or done about it. Our government provides financial assistance, counselling and placement service to pregnant girls, but those are merely band-aid solutions. They do not deal with the problem of unwanted pregnancies, they are not preventative solutions. We pay lip service to our young people. We say we are encouraging our youth to develop healthy life-styles and values when, in reality, Mr. Speaker, we are not really doing anything. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.