Today, we celebrate National Child Day, which marks 36 years since Canada adopted the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child. This convention upholds the right to dignity and human rights of each child to ensure they can meet their full potential.
As I have stated often, poverty is one of the most violent human rights violations. We must do everything in our power to stand up for all children and eradicate poverty once and for all.
We’ve seen again and again that the Liberals’ incremental plans to address poverty have failed children across the country, especially those who are Indigenous and those in government care. Child poverty is a clear human rights violation and it is unacceptable that the government is not treating it with the seriousness it deserves.
I will keep pushing to bring forward legislation that will lift children and their families out of poverty through a guaranteed livable basic income, funding to support affordable childcare for all families, and affordable, rent-geared-to-income housing.
The NDP will also ensure that children are protected from attacks on their safety and identify by the growing rise of hate that we’ve seen across the country. Right now more than ever it is essential we protect gender diverse youth from growing far-right wing hate, and push back against anti-migrant and pro-war legislation that endangers children who deserve to grow up in safety.
Human rights are a non-partisan issue. Let’s all stand together unified in protecting the dignity and security of children in Canada and across the world.
On May 5th, 2026, Member of Parliament Leah Gazan issued the following statement:
I write to you today to share my grave concerns about Canada Post’s plan to convert the remaining addresses that still receive door-to-door delivery to community mailboxes. This change jeopardizes access to the critical public infrastructure provided by Canada Post and poses specific harm for seniors, people with disabilities, people living in rural areas, as well as Canada Post employees.
We can never let ourselves become complicit in senseless violence and violations of human rights and international law. The behavior by President Trump and Netanyahu are particularly concerning, and they must be held to account.