It seems kind of incongruous to be writing in opposition to a school food program at the end of the Thanksgiving weekend, when visions of well-cooked turkeys and tables laden with food are the dominant images. But here we are. Last week the federal government announced that the upcoming budget scheduled for Nov. 4 would include a National School Food Policy that would make permanent the provision of lunches to school children. What’s not to like, right? Everyone wants children to be fed.
Well, for starters, the Liberals boasted years ago that their Canada Child Benefit would solve any problems families faced in not having enough money to feed their children. Guess that didn’t work, so now we need yet another government program to feed our children. The details as to how this program will actually be administered are non-existent, with the Liberals saying that they will implement this with their “provincial, territorial, municipal, Indigenous partners, and stakeholders.” Is the federal government just going to transfer more of our money to these other levels of government and “stakeholders,” and hope for the best?
That is typically how these types of programs work, with virtually zero follow-up to see if the other governments are actually doing what they are supposed to be doing. That has certainly been true for funds transferred from the federal government to the provinces for healthcare, where data shows that these monies were often spent on anything but healthcare. Will there be any measurement as to how the program is working? Doubtful, as governments of all political stripes rarely do that. Initial spending by the federal government is estimated at $1 billion, and heaven forbid that money will be wasted with no progress on actually ensuring children are properly fed. But we will never know, as the government won’t put measurement metrics in place to see if these funds are being well-spent. The claim that the program will now be “made permanent” is also rather amusing as it implies the program has been in place for a while, despite the fact that not one lunch has been provided to a schoolchild as yet.
In my days of having young kids, we parents participated as volunteers in providing a breakfast program to all the children who registered for it. There was no income test. We donated our money and our time to come in to school early and cook and serve a good breakfast to the kids. We also had a lot of fun doing it, at zero cost to taxpayers. Most of the schools I was aware of had similar programs. Studies show that once government moves into a certain area, volunteers and private funders move out, assuming the government will now be providing that service. And as we all know, governments always do everything so well!
Government taking over from the private sector and parental contributions in this area will undoubtedly involve yet another expensive bureaucracy at a time when we already have bloated government with no sign of change. When Canadians are already paying over a billion dollars every week just to finance our massive debt, layering on yet another government program that will only grow in cost over time is hardly a good idea. And expanding the federal bureaucracy further when the Trudeau government already increased it by 40 per cent while government services deteriorated is hardly needed.
The government has also committed to have “locally-sourced, sustainable” foods on the student lunch menu. It’s hard to fathom how the government will be providing nutritious meals that are locally-sourced in the middle of winter. But political correctness will overrule reality.
It is a Liberal government pattern to cause a problem – such as overtaxing Canadians to the extent they struggle with the cost of living – then proposing a new, expensive social program to supposedly solve the problem they created. Yet, the problem perpetually remains unsolved, as taxes and government both continue to increase in size and cost. This is no recipe for success.
The more government services are provided, the more some citizens give up on providing things for themselves. This is called socialism, which has never been successful despite many attempts to implement it throughout history. The current Liberal government has in the last few years moved into limited dental care, minimal pharmacare, a failed childcare system and is now attempting to feed children lunches in school. None of these services were working badly prior to the Liberals’ interventions, except for a small minority of Canadians. The sensible path would have been to focus on that small minority and target services to those who actually need them, at much lower cost and much greater benefit.
Many other countries have had food programs for decades and still have children who lack basic nutrition. The Liberals’ plan will not solve the problem but will add to our debt and tax burden. The best social program is a job and always will be. Canadian governments should be focussing on boosting our economy and creating more good jobs, instead of increasing dependence on government.
She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines & other media on issues such as free trade, finance, entrepreneurship & women business owners. Ms. Swift is a past President of the Empire Club of Canada, a former Director of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, past President of the International Small Business Congress and current Director of the Fraser Institute. She was cited in 2003 & 2012 as one of the most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network & is a recipient of the Queen’s Silver & Gold Jubilee medals.
