Like the groups fighting child poverty in this country, I agree Canada has more than enough resources to support all of its people. Nobody should be hungry; nobody should be homeless. And that's not some tossed-off party line - this nation is rich.

Education is paramount to overcoming poverty. Studies have repeatedly indicated that when women in some of the poorest regions of the world have access to education and medical care, the first thing they take control of is their reproductive status. They get it. They realize they can't possibly lift their children out of a hopeless future unless they can educate both the children and themselves.

As a community, we have to make decisions based on what works for most of us, rather than what we may prefer individually. We should all want safe, reliable child care for all children requiring it, whether you have kids or not.

There is nothing to be gained, and everything to be lost, by ignoring the fact that these are the most malleable years for a child. Flip on the light and discover future leaders, or slam shut the door and doom us all.

Go into any kindergarten class and ask the kids what they want to be when they grow up. They will be bursting with ideas, with motivation and with promise.

It's easiest, and cheapest, to capitalize on this energy at this level, yet consistent cycles of social dependency coupled with ongoing political hand-wringing leech away this potential, over and over again.

These children are broken as opportunities become snuffed out one by one. And the leaner and meaner life is at home, the sooner the idea of being a firefighter or a teacher fades for all but the hardiest. Having hopes and dreams for your children isn't enough.

We call it ending child poverty, but these children don't live alone, nor do they live apart from our community. And it's not just a poverty of money, it's a poverty of hope.

If having a child seems like the most comforting thing you can do for yourself, or you seriously don't see it as a gigantic undertaking, the disconnect goes far beyond breakfast programs and subsidized housing.

So who makes it out? Those who combine personal tenacity with opportunity created by governments, communities and advocates. And before you think this is "their" problem, rest assured; your children are going to marry my children. We need to take care of all of them.

As a woman, a mother and a taxpayer, I recognize I have a social responsibility to my community. We all do. But we also bear a personal responsibility to leave things better than we found them, to give back more than we take.

There are times we will need support, and times we will be in a position to give it.

That personal responsibility also demands that we put our children ahead of ourselves, even if that means not having them in the first place.

This country is unbelievably rich. It is rich in opportunity, it is rich in promise. Circumstances can thrust many of us into an untenable situation with little warning - and more of us are closer to that tipping point than we care to admit, or realize.

But in a world of things beyond your control, there will be always be things within it that we can.

"We want public leaders to take responsibility," quotes one recent report.

What's really required is for everyone to take responsibility, from the currently disadvantaged to those safely cocooned behind money, power or denial.