At the opening of Parliament in September 1997, the Prime Minister of Canada committed his government to work on assuring young people the prospects for a decent future. That is what we are going to do. The September 1997 commitment to Canada's children builds upon a growing recognition across the country that the foundations of well being which sustained previous generations of families and young people are clearly eroding. The economic and social hardships faced by young people have become too pervasive to be ignored, or diminished in significance. The life cycle connections between child poverty and youth unemployment are ominous.
Young people are more than a new cohort of workers.
They are also the next generation of prospective parents, many of whom will be soon entering into periods of family formation. The economic hardships experienced by young people, unable to secure sustaining attachments in the labour market, are seeding the next generation of child poverty in Canada. The Prime Minister invoked the national achievement three decades ago when the plight of seniors challenged the country. Through the joint leadership of the federal government and the provinces, Canadians developed a comprehensive system of support for the elderly which responded to the common vulnerabilities of aging. A federal income security system created a floor of sufficiency for seniors to live in relative states of dignity, without having to resort to the diminishing experiences of seeking welfare assistance.