While campaigning in 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to launch a National School Food Program and today (Mon) he announced $1 billion over five years to provide meals to and estimated 400-thousand children. That’s 400,000 added to the number of students already in school food programs. This is something that the NDP has been pushing the Liberal government for.

Trudeau understands that money for childcare, for dental care and for helping feed children in school is costly, but he believes giving people a leg up is the way to a stronger economy. He suggests the trickle down theory, where giving tax breaks to the rich, which is supposed to then eventually trickle down to others, doesn’t work and it never has. He says, “This is a choice our government continues to make, to invest in the most vulnerable, because that’s how you build a strong economy, by making sure everyone has the opportunity to reach their potential.” The hope is to have it ready to go for the next school year.

Trudeau says the $1 billion includes investments for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities as well as Self-Governing and Modern Treaty partners, many of whom have some of the highest rates of food insecurity in Canada. The new National School Food Program will also help provinces, territories, and Indigenous partners expand their existing school food programs.