- Member of Parliament
- Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (on parental leave)
- Liberal
- Burlington
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 65%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $131,115.10
- Government Page
- Sep/20/23 3:08:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what the government has been focused on for the last eight years is making sure that we are advancing measures that help Canadians. We increased the Canada child benefit, and instead of sending cheques to millionaires, we made sure that the poorest and most vulnerable were getting the maximum they could have. When it comes to child care, we have cut fees in half by over 50%. When it comes to child poverty, we have lifted 450,000 children out of poverty.
What the Conservatives do not understand is that we have been not only listening to Canadians, but also acting on their behalf, and we continue to work hard for Canadians every single day.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague held my position before me and I know he is also a champion of child care and early childhood development centres.
This is an excellent question. We are seeing results already. Since November, more women have been active in Canada's workforce than ever before. Part of the reason is our early childhood and child care program. We are seeing an increase in women's economic empowerment.
I wonder why the Conservatives do not support economic empowerment, based on their track record over the past 25 years in Quebec.
We also know that early childhood is the most important stage of development in every person's life. This program, which is based on quality and inclusion, is critical to ensuring that current and future generations of children have greater opportunities than we did.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to join my voice to my colleague's in sending condolences to the Irwin family and to the member's entire community. I cannot imagine the pain they are going through right now.
The member ended by talking about grandparents taking care of grandkids. There is nothing in this legislation that would prevent a family from making their own child care choices. There is absolutely nothing that would change that. However, what I can say is that some of the people whom I have spoken to who are most excited about this legislation are grandparents. They love their grandchildren, but it is a lot to ask them in their golden hour to take care of little kids. When I travelled around this country, not only were parents excited, but grandparents were absolutely also excited about the affordable child care initiative.
I am still not sure. I have asked every Conservative member who has spoken tonight. We are just debating a spurious amendment right now. Will the Conservatives be supporting Bill C-35?
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Madam Speaker, I am absolutely thrilled to be back in the House talking about Bill C-35, an act respecting early learning and child care in Canada.
This is another important step on the journey to providing early learning and child care that is affordable, accessible, high quality and inclusive for Canadian children right across the country.
I do want to begin by thanking all of the members of the HUMA, who worked so diligently and so hard to get us where we are today, one step closer to making it the law of the land that the Government of Canada will be involved in early learning and child care from now on. Unfortunately, listening to my hon. colleague from the Conservatives, I really do not know where they stand on this. They seem to be quite opposed to affordable child care and to making sure that Canadians have access to it. I hope that is not the case—
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- Apr/27/23 2:37:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a bit hard to take the Conservatives at face value when they talk about Canadians in poverty, because when the Conservative government came into power in 2006, it was 17th in the OECD when it came to child poverty rankings. By the time Conservatives left office nine years later, they had fallen to 24th. They had actually done nothing to alleviate people who were living in poverty.
We came into office in 2015. We have helped 450,000 children get out of poverty. We have helped 2.7 million Canadians get out of poverty. We are going to keep being there for Canadians, unlike the members opposite.
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- Apr/17/23 2:34:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is hard to hear the Conservatives talk about families because at every opportunity they have voted against hard-working Canadian families in this House, like regarding the Canada child benefit, the Canada workers benefit, the Canada housing benefit or dental that has helped over 250,000 children go to the dentist already. We also have the Canada child care agreements that have lowered fees by 50% right across the country. If Conservatives cared about Canadian families, they would do more to support them.
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- Mar/28/23 2:37:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are 2.7 million fewer Canadians in poverty today than when the Conservatives were in government. That includes 450,000 children, thanks to the Canada child benefit, in which a child under six could receive up to $7,000 a year.
Let us talk about our child care agreements that have cut fees by 50% for families across this country, which could be up to an additional $6,000 for families with children in registered care.
We are delivering for Canadians in hard times, and we are going to continue to be there for them.
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- Jan/30/23 2:42:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, right after we formed the government, 450,000 fewer children were in poverty than when the Conservatives were in power. It is because of our programs, such as the Canada child benefit or the child care and early childhood program, that fees have dropped by 50% across the country.
Families across Canada tell me how much these programs have helped them reduce the cost of living and how this is changing their lives. It is a shame that the Conservatives do not support these measures.
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- Nov/24/22 2:37:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, 450,000 children have been lifted out of poverty since we took office in 2015. We have brought in early learning and child care agreements across the country. By the end of this year, families from coast to coast to coast will receive reduced child care fees by up to 50%. We have several measures that we have put forward, whether it is the Canada dental benefit, the Canada child benefit, or the Canada rental benefit, which have seriously helped families in need.
We know these are tough times. We are there for families. We just do not understand why the Conservatives are not.
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- Nov/16/22 3:12:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague from Brampton South, who has been a tireless advocate for universal child care in this country.
I am really pleased to report to the House that Ontario has had 92% of licensed child care providers sign on. That means families are receiving rebates of up to 25% dating back to April 1, and as of December 31 they will receive a 50% reduction in fees. I spoke to one mother who said she specifically went back to work because she can now afford it because of these child care fees.
Child care is a home run. It is a win for our children, it is a win for our families and it is a win for our economy.
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- Oct/27/22 2:37:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us review what happened. In 2015, when we introduced the Canada child benefit, what did the Conservatives do? They voted against it. When we introduced support for child care, what did the Conservatives do? They voted against it.
We have lifted 450,000 children out of poverty since 2015. If the Conservatives really want to support families now, they have an opportunity to do so with the dental benefit.
Can we count on the Conservatives? Are they going to be there for families for the first time ever? I do not know.
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- Oct/27/22 2:28:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question.
It is clear that we take this issue very seriously. That is why, when we were elected in 2015, we were there for families and for children and why 1.3 million Canadians have been lifted out of poverty since 2015, including 450,000 children. We will continue to be there for Canadians. Today, all members of the House have the opportunity to support Canadian children. I hope Conservative members will do the same.
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- Oct/3/22 2:36:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we understand that the cost of living is high for families.
That is why we introduced the Canada child benefit in 2015. Since then, it has lifted 450,000 children across the country out of poverty.
We are here for families, we have been here for families, and we will be here for families.
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- Sep/29/22 2:53:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we understand that the cost of living is high for Canadian families and for Quebeckers. That is why we brought in the Canada child benefit for families, which has lifted 450,000 children across the country out of poverty.
It is simple. If the Conservatives are truly concerned about poverty and about the people who are suffering right now, they will support our efforts to help the most vulnerable.
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- Sep/20/22 2:38:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this year, we signed 13 agreements with the provinces and territories to lower the cost of child care across the country. That means putting thousands of dollars back in the pockets of parents so they can give their children what they need, cover the high cost of living and buy the things they need.
Our agreement is helping families. That is great, and that is what we will keep doing.
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- Jun/22/22 3:13:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is extraordinarily important that we get the integrity of passports right. That is something that I have been communicating, and when someone is applying for a passport for the first time, it is one of the reasons that we ensure we are getting this right. When we are looking at children's passports, it is another reason that we want to make sure we have permission from both parents, and if there is a separation, that we go through the custody agreements, because at all costs, we must protect our children. That is exactly what we continue to do.
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- Jun/22/22 2:40:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have good news for the hon. leader of the NDP. We are providing assistance right now in the 13 provinces and territories, right across the country, through the child care agreements. Families with young children will save thousands of dollars every year. We are talking about real dollars to help families cope with the rising cost of living.
We are there for families, children and our country.
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- Jun/22/22 2:38:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to congratulate the hon. leader of the NDP for bringing his little person in here. It is wonderful to see children here as well.
I am so thrilled to hear the members opposite be so excited about child care, because there are 13 agreements right across the country that are helping families today. In fact, in many of those provinces, families are already receiving 50% off registered child care fees, which in some provinces is between $2,000 and $4,000 additional dollars in their pockets each year.
That is helping working Canadians, that is helping families and that is helping our children.
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- Jun/9/22 2:46:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is committed to giving families more money to help with the high cost of raising their kids and to making a real difference in the lives of our children. That is why, in 2016, the government introduced the Canada child benefit to provide increased support for low- to middle-income families with children.
The Canada child benefit is tax-free and based on income, so it provides more support to families who need it the most. The Canada child benefit provides support to over 3.5 million families, including over six million children, putting more than $25 billion tax-free into the pockets of Canadian families.
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- Jun/2/22 2:47:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when it comes to kids and families, our government has been there every step of the way. In 2015, we introduced the Canada child benefit, lifting 300,000 Canadians families out of poverty. In fact, in the member's riding of Brantford—Brant, families that have children in child care will soon be receiving a 25% reduction in fees, and by the end of this year, that fee will be reduced by 50%. That might be up to $400 or $500 a month in people's pockets. That is real money helping Canadian families, helping Canadian kids, meet the high cost of living.
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