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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 11

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 6, 2021 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 11 - Dec/6/21
Hon. Karina Gould (Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Lib.)
  • Dec/6/21 7:17:50 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we recognize that inflation is certainly a challenge that families, indeed all Canadians and almost everyone around the world is grappling with right now. It is important to understand the basic premise around inflation. It is not that this is a uniquely Canadian issue. It is happening right around the world. It is caused by challenges with regard to the supply chain, by rising demand, by the fact that we are hopefully coming out of, although continue to be in, one of the worst global health crises that we have ever seen. There are a lot of reasons we are in this challenging situation, but it is abundantly clear that this government has been there for Canadians both before the pandemic and during the pandemic, and we will be there after the pandemic. One of the very first things that we did when we came into office was bring forward the Canada child benefit, which meant we were not sending cheques to millionaires, like the previous Conservative government, but to families who needed them most. Before the 2019 election, we indexed the Canada child benefit to inflation because we knew how important it was for families to make ends meet. I have heard from countless constituents and families across the country about the difference that the Canada child benefit has made for their families, whether it meant they were buying groceries or able to afford diapers in a world that they were not able to before. When it comes to seniors, it is one of the reasons we lowered the age of eligibility for old age security from 67 to 65. Let us not forget that the previous Conservative government would have put millions of Canadian seniors into poverty with that policy change. That was one of the very first things that we did when we were elected in 2015. In the pandemic, we also issued a one-time payment for all OAS recipients to help them with the additional costs they had, and another payment for families that received the Canada child benefit, understanding that costs were going up. This government has been there for Canadians of all ages, all backgrounds, all persuasions and all families, no matter how old their children are and we will continue to do that. Let me talk a bit about child care. Child care is good for kids and it is good for families. Having affordable day care is going to help families deal with the rising costs of everything else around them, but it is also going to help the economy writ large. Let me provide one statistic: 240,000. That is the number of women who will likely enter the workforce because we are making child care more affordable. That means that we are going to be helping address some of the labour shortages, but it also means that families are going to be able to have both parents or a single parent working and hopefully earning a better income. These are good things for kids, for families and for the economy writ large. Finally, let me talk about the supports that we provided through the pandemic. My hon. colleague and members of the Conservative Party continue to talk about money into the economy as if it were a bad thing. At the height of the pandemic, nine million Canadians were on the Canada emergency response benefit. Let us just imagine if we had not done that. What would poverty in this country look like? This was very important. We were there for Canadians and we will continue to be there.
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Context: House Hansard - 11 - Dec/6/21
Hon. Karina Gould
  • Dec/6/21 7:23:02 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, one thing I will not do and one thing our government will not do is pit different age groups of Canadians against each other. This is exactly why we know that supporting young families through affordable child care is not just good for young families, it is good for the entire economy. It is why we know that increasing old age security and the guaranteed income supplement, again, is not just good for seniors, it is good for the entire economy. When it comes to lifting Canadians out of poverty, we will be here for them no matter what their age, no matter what their background, because it is good for all of us.
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