Matthew Nathanson: Horgan can give best Christmas present ever to B.C.'s hungry children
Credit to Author: Hardip Johal| Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2019 02:00:51 +0000
It’s Christmas time and many of us are out searching for the elusive “perfect gift”. You know, the one that will make that special someone’s eyes light up and flash a million-dollar smile.
And while everyone has a shot at making that happen, there’s one person who has it in the bag, if he chooses to.
That person is Premier John Horgan.
He doesn’t just have the opportunity to make one person’s eyes light up, he can do it for kids all across the province. No Santa suit needed. Just the stroke of a pen.
The kids I am referring to are the many, and I mean many, children who are the victims of child poverty in our province.
They are the kids who The Vancouver Sun, through its Adopt-A-School program, has been seeking donations for. They are the kids that show up at school hungry because they haven’t had any breakfast, and often don’t have any lunch to look forward to either.
The same kids we are expecting to learn fractions and geometry, and become the leaders of tomorrow. Just on an empty stomach.
It is unfathomable that in one of the most prosperous countries in the world we have schoolchildren going hungry. But we do. Lots of them.
That is why the Adopt-A-School program is so important, and why it is time for the government to step up and do its part.
Their only weapon in this fight against child poverty is the power of the pen.
The Sun pens story after story about kids showing up at school with nothing to eat and with no jacket to wear in the dead of winter. The same pen tells of vulnerable students struggling to get by, and teachers reaching into their own pockets to help them.
Premier Horgan can use the same pen to make a huge difference in the lives of hungry children, if he chooses to.
I have great faith in John Horgan. I think he is a stand-up guy. And I have no doubt that if he saw a hungry kid sitting in the government lunchroom, he would give him half his sandwich. In fact, he’d probably give him the whole thing.
But hungry schoolkids aren’t lurking in government buildings in Victoria, visible to those in power. They aren’t staging rallies or going on strike. They don’t vote. They are invisible. And they are powerless.
But the vulnerable, the helpless and the invisible are exactly the people the government should be helping the most. Especially children.
The problem isn’t a lack of empathy, it’s a lack of attention. After eight years of the Adopt-A-School program, and still no government funding, things have to change.
This call for government action isn’t idealistic or unrealistic. It is being done as we speak, just not here.
The U.S. shells out $18 billion a year to feed schoolkids. We spend nothing. Canada is the only OECD country without a national system to feed hungry schoolchildren. B.C. has no coordinated plan to feed hungry children in schools.
How is this possible?
Just to put things in perspective, the provincial government takes in over $200 million a year in taxes on legal fees. It just allocated $50 million for faster internet.
How can there not be a couple million to feed hungry kids?
Law firms are getting involved. Businesses are getting involved. Private individuals are getting involved.
Now it’s the government’s turn to do its part.
Premier Horgan, if you are listening, share your sandwich. Please. It will be the best Christmas present you have ever given, and the best investment your government has ever made.
Matthew Nathanson is a Vancouver criminal lawyer and a generous donor to the Adopt-A-School campaign.