Hello, everyone. Now, the last time I was here at the Boys & Girls Club of East Scarborough was in March 2020, right before the pandemic. The world has changed in the past four years, but the team here continues to do outstanding work, so thank you, Utcha, and to your entire team for the amazing work here for young people and for the community in Scarborough.

I’m very pleased to be here in Scarborough with Deputy Prime Minister Freeland, ministers Sudds and Ien, local MP John McKay, and the other members of our team, including Julie, Nate, Ryan, Mark and Jean. We’re here today to talk about what we’re doing to support children and families.

It's Easter Monday today. During the long weekend, a lot of people spent time with their family and shared good meals together, and around the kitchen table a lot of people were talking about grocery prices that are still too high. Tomorrow, kids will be going back to school and some of them won't have enough to eat. That impacts their health and their opportunities to learn and grow.

And like we said last week, this year's upcoming budget will be all about fairness, fairness for every generation, and that, of course, includes and starts with children and families. We all want kids to have the best start in life, including the most vulnerable. That's why we'll be investing $1 billion to create a national school food program that will provide meals to 400,000 more kids every year beyond those served by existing programs.

(Applause)

We'll work with provinces and territories and Indigenous partners towards ensuring every child has the food they need.

We’ll be investing $1 billion across provinces, territories and Indigenous communities to expand school food programs and provide meals to 400,000 more kids every year. We’ll be helping children by making sure that they do not spend the school day hungry, and at the same time, bring peace of mind and relief to parents and grandparents.

We just know that when kids eat better, they do better in school. The teachers, advocates and volunteers I spoke with today know that, and it’s something I remember from my years as a teacher. When a kid walks up before class and says, “I'm hungry,” that means we all have more work to do, as a school community, as a country, as a world. We want everyone to be able to eat well so they can reach their full potential.

The National School Food Program is on top of our generational investments to help families and make live more affordable across the country.