Liberals pledge free universal school breakfast program
CBC
New Brunswick Liberals are promising to establish a free, universal breakfast program in all provincial schools in time for the start of school a year from now.
Leader Susan Holt said the $27.4-million-a-year program will also support a pay-what-you-can lunch program.
"It's going to help students learn and thrive. It's going to help teachers deliver better, and it's going to make life more affordable for families in New Brunswick," Holt said at a news conference, the second in a week where she unveiled a pre-campaign commitment.
The program will be available for all students, not just those in need, and Holt says a Liberal government would have it up and running across the province by September 2025.
Fredericton-York Liberal candidate Tanya Whitney, a former school principal, said a targeted program would risk stigmatizing the students using it, whereas a universal program would not.
"It's more equitable and people find themselves at the same space, having the same school experience, with all the other children," she said.
Jill Van Horne, the network director of the group Food For All New Brunswick, which supports food programs across the province, called the Liberal plan "ambitious" because it would cover both breakfast and lunch.
"It's huge. School food, on its surface, sounds simple but there's a lot that goes into that. It requires food sourcing, it requires people power, it requires time and it's not just a simple thing to implement."
Holt said her program would rely on "amazing partners," such as community groups already providing meals in some provincial schools.
The province would take a more direct role in communities where no such group is available, she said.
Holt and Whitney said students who are hungry at school experience stress and anxiety that often lead to poor academic results and absenteeism.
The $27.4 million cost of the program does not account for potential funding from the federal government that would be available if the province signed an agreement with Ottawa.
Holt said if such a deal happens it would reduce the provincial cost.
But the federal program, announced in April, targets only 400,000 students nationwide — "beyond those served by existing school food programs," according to a press release.
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