YOU SAID IT: Failing our children

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FAILING OUR CHILDREN

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Knowing that children are our hope for the future, failing to support them could lead to a generational catastrophe. With more than half the people living in extreme poverty being children, it is clear that access to basic needs such as proper nutrition, immunization and education is minimal and their chances of survival are extremely low.

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The merging of COVID-19, conflict and the climate crisis has hindered progress in eliminating child poverty. With the extended closure of schools, years of education were delayed. With health systems overwhelmed, routine vaccinations were deferred, and, with intensified climate disasters, the cost of living rose, so access to basic needs for children decreased.

According to UNICEF, more than six out of 10 10-year-old children are unable to read and understand a simple text. All these facts are pointing to how the world is failing the little ones. However, we can step up to raise a vibrant and thriving next generation. Canada needs to uphold its promise to increase its International Assistance Envelope and invest $600 million in 2024 at the budget announcement in February. This assistance will finance programs (such as the Charlevoix Education Initiative; Gavi, the Vaccine alliance; and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative) that ensure immunization, nutrition and education reach all children, particularly those living in the world’s poorest, most remote and most marginalized communities.

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SANTA AMANDA MUGABEKAZI

OTTAWA

FAIR-WEATHER FRIEND

It is a fact of life that, when adversity hits, that is when you find out who your friends really are.

Justin Trudeau has proven, beyond a doubt, that he is a fair-weather friend by his inability to immediately take a firm stance in supporting tiny, democratic Israel in the self-defence fight for its very survival.

In the past, Canada has taken firm stands for what was morally right, even if it meant the shedding of our own blood. I am ashamed to say that those days are gone.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that we have an election soon and that the voting public will educate themselves before they enter the voting booth and finally rid Canada of this burden we have been carrying on our backs for these eight long years, before the democracies of the free world abandon us for good.

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Yet another epic failure of our “political leadership.”

BETTY-ANNE TREMBLAY

DELIVERY ON TIME DESPITE SNOW

Congrats to the Ottawa Sun delivery personnel. Saturday morning, I was up at seven to do some shoveling, fully expecting a major delay in receiving the paper. However, there it was, tucked neatly in my mailbox — snowstorm be damned.

These people don’t get enough credit, rising at ungodly hours to pick up their bundles and then starting their deliveries in darkness. Once again, a big thank-you.

STEPHEN FLANAGAN

OTTAWA

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