Canadian minister sorry for child poverty comment

Canadian minister sorry for child poverty comment

Canada’s Industry Minister James Moore has apologized for his recent comments, in which he said the federal government’s role does not include feeding poor children.

Moore’s apology came on Monday over his insensitive remarks during a recent Vancouver radio show discussing civic duty in light of increasingly negative reports regarding the state of child poverty in Canada.

In the show broadcasted on December 13, Moore told the reporter that it is not up to the federal government to help children who do not have enough to eat.

In addition, Moore said the child poverty rates in the province of British Colombia are not the responsibility of the federal government and it would not “usurp” the province.

In response to Moore’s remarks, Jinny Sims, a New Democrat Member of Parliament, said she was appalled by his remarks.

“For a Conservative minister to claim that child poverty isn’t his problem is heartless,” said Sims.

This comes in the wake of a recent report from a child advocate organization, First Call, saying British Colombia has the worst child poverty rate in the country, adding that the number stands at more than 18.5 percent.

According to another recently published report, one in every seven Canadian children, or 967,000, live in a low-income household.

The rate is higher than that reported in 1989 when the federal government vowed to eradicate child poverty by the year 2000, the report said.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/12/17/340486/canadian-mini-sorry-for-poverty-comment/

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