Close X
Sunday, November 10, 2024
ADVT 
National

Trudeau announces national school food program to feed 400,000 more kids per year

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 01 Apr, 2024 10:59 AM
  • Trudeau announces national school food program to feed 400,000 more kids per year

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the upcoming federal budget will include a national school food program.

Trudeau made the announcement in Toronto today with Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Families Minister Jenna Sudds as part of the Liberal government's pre-budget tour. 

The program is expected to provide meals to 400,000 more kids per year.

Ottawa plans to spend $1 billion over the next five years on the national food program.

While education doesn't fall under federal jurisdiction, a national program would allow Ottawa to partner up with provinces and territories, many of which are already doing the work alongside community groups. 

In the past year, British Columbia, Manitoba and Nova Scotia have allocated money toward school lunches, but on-the-ground organizations have argued for a federal partner.

"We're going to get this done by working together with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners, and expanding access to school food programs across the country," Freeland said.

"And we want to get started as early as the 2024-25 school year."

The Liberal government has long promised to launch such a program, and Trudeau campaigned on it during the 2021 election.

New Democrats have been pushing the Liberal government to fulfil that promise ahead of the federal budget.

MORE National ARTICLES

Pedestrian hit in Surrey

Pedestrian hit in Surrey
Police in Surrey say they're investigating after a pedestrian was hit on a city street. RCMP say officers responded to a call around six this morning near Scott Road and Nordel Way.

Pedestrian hit in Surrey

Two Canadians charged in U.S. plot to kill Iranian defector

Two Canadians charged in U.S. plot to kill Iranian defector
The U.S. Department of Justice has charged two Canadians and an Iranian in a murder-for-hire plot targeting two people in Maryland. An indictment unsealed today says Naji Sharifi Zindashti, Damion Patrick John Ryan and Adam Richard Pearson conspired to kill the two unnamed people, one of whom was an Iranian defector.

Two Canadians charged in U.S. plot to kill Iranian defector

B.C. River Forecast Centre issues flood warning for Sumas River, tributary of Fraser

B.C. River Forecast Centre issues flood warning for Sumas River, tributary of Fraser
British Columbia's River Forecast Centre has issued an upgraded flood warning for the Sumas River, a tributary of the Fraser River east of Vancouver, as the latest round of atmospheric rivers deluge the province's South Coast. An updated bulletin says flows in the Sumas River are not anticipated to pose a hazard for flooding into Sumas Prairie, an area hit hard by rainstorms and flooding that swamped much of southwestern B.C. in November 2021. 

B.C. River Forecast Centre issues flood warning for Sumas River, tributary of Fraser

B.C. hops farm, director fined over $1M after alleged fraud: securities commission

B.C. hops farm, director fined over $1M after alleged fraud: securities commission
A hops farm company and its director have been ordered to pay more than $1 million over an alleged fraud that a B.C. Securities Commission panel described as "near to the most serious type of fraud possible in an investment context." A statement from the commission says Fraser Valley Hop Farms Inc. and its sole named director, Alexander William Bridges, must pay a combined $498,273, representing the amount they obtained as a result of their alleged wrongdoing.  

B.C. hops farm, director fined over $1M after alleged fraud: securities commission

Ceremony planned to honour memory of those killed in 2017 Quebec City mosque attack

Ceremony planned to honour memory of those killed in 2017 Quebec City mosque attack
A ceremony commemorating victims of the deadly 2017 attack on a Quebec City mosque is scheduled to take place Monday evening. Six Muslim men were killed and five others were seriously injured when a gunman burst into the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Centre shortly after evening prayers on Jan. 29, 2017.

Ceremony planned to honour memory of those killed in 2017 Quebec City mosque attack

New Zealand mountaineer is fourth person to die in B.C. heli-ski crash

New Zealand mountaineer is fourth person to die in B.C. heli-ski crash
A New Zealand mountaineering expert injured in the heli-skiing crash north of Terrace, B.C., last week has died, bringing the death toll to four. The New Zealand Mountain Guides Association says In a Facebook post that its president, Lewis Ainsworth, had been on the Northern Escape Heli-Skiing helicopter as a guide.

New Zealand mountaineer is fourth person to die in B.C. heli-ski crash