SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 288

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 29, 2024 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 288 - Feb/29/24
Mr. Alex Ruff
  • Feb/29/24 4:40:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I never said that. I said me personally. I was talking about a question that I received from the Liberal member about the child care benefit, not about the early learning and child care program. I am just saying that it is something that I would not personally partake in. It is the way I was raised, that we take care of things ourselves, but I have 100% indicated the importance of the program and why it is so critical to support those in need. I believe the government should be focused on those who need the help, not everybody in general. I believe in less government, not more government.
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Context: House Hansard - 288 - Feb/29/24
Mr. Mark Gerretsen
  • Feb/29/24 4:43:09 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, what we find very ironic now is that Conservatives are suddenly saying 77% of people do not need this. They are asking why we are providing it. Our point is that is what the difference between the Canada child benefit and the former Stephen Harper universal child care benefit is all about. It is about means-testing.
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Context: House Hansard - 288 - Feb/29/24
Mrs. Cathay Wagantall (Yorkton—Melville, CPC)
  • Feb/29/24 5:08:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to present some details on the universal child care benefit that was brought in during the Harper years. I was not here in the House, but I did go door to door later on and learned a significant amount about it. I think the means test issue here is backwards, because the reason the funding went out to everyone in Canada was that it was the most efficient way to do it. When I went door to door, there were people who would say that they did not get to keep the funding and that this was not fair. I asked them whether they owned their home and how many cars they had. I would say, “If you take that money and pop it in a savings account, you are going to have to give it back in taxes.” However, here was the kicker: If all of a sudden someone shut down the oil field, jobs were lost and all of a sudden someone had to somehow make up that money, it was already there for that family. Now, however, with the way it is done, people have to wait a whole tax cycle to find out whether they will qualify. When the means test needs to be presented is when there are people who are low-income and need those spaces, and they are not prioritized. That is what should be happening here. One of the things we are saying could better the program is to make a means test the entry into it.
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