- Member of Parliament
- Caucus Chair
- NDP
- Cowichan—Malahat—Langford
- British Columbia
- Voting Attendance: 66%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $140,733.69
- Government Page
Madam Speaker, on that last part about choice, I could not agree more with my colleague. Of course families want choice. However, I have to go back to an earlier point. When I first ran in 2015, parents were complaining to me about the lack of choice in the private system. They did not have choice because the costs were too high, and it was not economical for them to go out and get a second job to further the economic interests of their families.
By lowering fees and creating a legislative framework to ensure funding, we are giving families choice where it did not exist before. I speak from personal, first-hand accounts from my riding of Cowichan—Malahat—Langford. Choice did not exist before. This initiative is going to create choice for families and I am proud to be supporting it.
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- Apr/17/23 12:13:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I always have a bit of a chuckle when I listen to Conservatives talk about removing the gatekeepers. My community of Langford is one of the fastest-growing municipalities in all of Canada. All around Langford, there are construction cranes and new housing projects going up. Despite that, the costs continue to rise for the average family. I will ask the member to cite that as an example, which I am sure is replicated in many cities across Canada.
There is a lot of construction going on, but it is not really the right kind. We need to make sure we are addressing the needs of Canadian families that cannot afford to buy in the market.
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Madam Speaker, we heard a lot of discussion today about the themes of freedom and choice, but a lot of families, particularly in my riding, do not have that option under the status quo. I remember speaking to a lot of families in my riding who said they would love to be able to go out and get a second job to advance their family's economic interest, but the entire income from that second job would go to pay for child care because it was simply too expensive.
We need to remember this kind of program is about giving families a choice. It is about giving them the choice to get that second job, because they know their kids will be looked after at an affordable rate and then they can advance their interests. I would like my colleague to underline that aspect. This is another measure to help families get ahead.
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Madam Speaker, I am not prepared to encounter any more delays for the children in my riding who desperately need dental care. We know that those regular dental checkups are so important for overall oral health.
Could the Minister of Health comment on how those regular checkups for children under the age of 12 would actually save our system a lot of money going forward because of early detection of oral health problems, and how this would really help families that struggling to make difficult choices week in and week out?
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Madam Speaker, the inflationary pressures that too many Canadian families are experiencing right now are not new. They have been with us for most of this year, as far back as early spring. In fact, it was back in May of this year that the NDP used its opposition day motion to call for precisely this measure.
The truth is that families in my riding, across my province and across this country could have used this help a lot earlier. Why did the Liberals wait until this moment in time to finally get this much-needed help to struggling families right across this country?
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- May/17/22 3:49:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, families in Cowichan—Malahat—Langford right now, when they are filling up their vehicles, are looking at those eye-watering prices, and then they read the news and hear about the billions of dollars of profits that oil companies are making. Then, to add insult to injury, they learn that their hard-earned taxpayer dollars are directly subsidizing those companies, especially in unproven technology.
I have a very clear question for my hon. colleague: Does she not agree that this is precisely the wrong time to continue subsidizing oil companies, not only because of the climate danger, but because of the pressure that working families are feeling? Is it not time to directly invest those dollars, instead, into the pockets of working families to help them out and give them a break?
I want to hear a clear answer from my Liberal colleague on putting that money directly into working families' pockets through an increase in the GST credit.
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