Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’ve got a few comments I’d like to make on the report. First off I’d like to thank yourself, Mr. Abernethy, and Mr. Beaulieu and the rest of the Social Programs committee for embarking on this ambitious piece of work. It took you over a year and I know many mornings you’d be here and on weekends as well, and I know the committee put a lot of time and effort and understanding into the issues surrounding the review of the Child and Family Services Act. It’s because of that work and commitment that I think we have a report before us that is one that speaks to a variety of issues.
The big one for me, and I’ve heard this from constituents, is that gap. We have to try to address the gap for youth between the ages of 16 and 19. I think that’s a big part of it. They’re too old for foster care, too young to receive income support. That’s a gap I think we need to address. Hopefully this leads us down that road.
I was listening to some of my colleagues speak earlier. The impact, the sheer volume and impact that alcohol, drugs and the abuse of those substances have on our communities, on our families, is devastating. I think we really need to, as a government, get to the root cause of family breakup and what’s causing things to go astray. I know we’re working towards that. We’re spending a lot of money in that area. The social indicators aren’t getting any better and I think we need to do a rethink on how we’re approaching things, especially on the prevention side.
I again appreciate all the time and effort that’s gone into the report. Hopefully we can find a way forward.
The other thing too, while I’ve got the floor, that I wanted to mention, was when families break up and the impact that has, it’s a very tumultuous time in a family’s life when the families do break up, the impact on the children who are involved in that breakup have. I’ve always been a big supporter of equal shared parenting in a way that both parents can fit into the lives of children. That’s something
that I fully support too. The more we can get in and mediate circumstances like that, the better as well. Keep family issues and family law out of the court system as much as possible. That’s a good thing. We would be doing families a valuable service if we could do that; also benefitting the children that are involved in those family breakups as well.
With that, I do hope this is a tool that can be used effectively as we move forward. Once again, thank you and thanks to the Social Programs committee and to the Minister and her staff, and everybody else who was involved in the foundation of getting this report before us today.