Dear Editor:
“Is it my job to feed my neighbour’s child? I don’t think so.”
That was the gist of the recent headline-grabbing response by Federal Industry Minister James Moore to B.C.’s record on child poverty. His comments claiming that child poverty was a provincial matter – not a federal one – triggered a backlash and he apologized.
Juxtapose the minister’s jurisdictional argument against helping the one in seven Canadian children estimated to be living in poverty with the actions of students in the Burnaby School District.
In the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, students throughout the district thought globally and acted locally, banding together in a grassroots show of support to raise $44,066.69 for the people of the Philippines. The student-driven campaign was an example of shared leadership and social responsibility at its finest.
And although Canadian compassion has always been too big to be confined by our borders, as the old adage goes, charity does indeed begin at home.
Whether it’s students collecting donations for local food banks, firefighters delivering snacks to local schools, teachers sharing lunches with kids in their charge, or parent advisory councils preparing Christmas hampers for families in need, neighbourhood efforts leave little doubt as to whose “job” it is to care for the young, hungry and vulnerable in our own backyard: everyone’s.
