Madam Chair, speaking to the issue of the middle-class tax cut, could the minister explain why someone earning the average or the median income in Canada would not qualify for the so-called middle-class tax cut?
House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2021, with 43% of the vote.
Business of Supply May 30th, 2016
Madam Chair, speaking to the issue of the middle-class tax cut, could the minister explain why someone earning the average or the median income in Canada would not qualify for the so-called middle-class tax cut?
Business of Supply May 30th, 2016
Madam Chair, does the minister still plan to create a consumer price index specifically for seniors?
Business of Supply May 30th, 2016
Madam Chair, the minister said earlier that transferring shares in small business or farms to a dependent qualifies as a capital gain and would be eligible. In fact, it is taxed as a dividend. Could the minister explain how he came to this conclusion?
Business of Supply May 30th, 2016
Madam Chair, what we would say to that is that we expect the government to be able to provide some figures in terms of growing inequality in this country. We know that, according to Oxfam, the wealthiest 100 Canadians now hold as much as the bottom 10 million Canadians. That number is wholly unacceptable.
I wonder if the minister could tell us if any of the bottom 10 million income earners in Canada benefit from the Liberal tax plan.
Business of Supply May 30th, 2016
Madam Chair, the answer is that there are up to 300,000 unpaid internships across Canada. We know that many of these are performed by young people. It is young people who cannot access gainful employment, which is an issue that we hope the current government will take seriously.
Moving on to the issue of inequality, does the minister know how much wealth the richest 100 Canadians now hold?
Business of Supply May 30th, 2016
Madam Chair, again on the issue of employment, particularly precarious employment, I wonder if the minister could tell us how many Canadians are stuck in unpaid internships across the country.
Business of Supply May 30th, 2016
Madam Chair, the answer to that would be $1.2 billion. While we are aware, we are also expecting concrete answers from the minister, which unfortunately we are not quite getting here tonight.
I wonder why the government has not used the EI account surplus to extend benefits to unemployed Canadians.
Business of Supply May 30th, 2016
Madam Chair, we find the fact that only four in ten Canadians can access EI to be wholly unacceptable. I wonder if the minister could tell us what is the expected annual surplus in the EI account for this year.
Business of Supply May 30th, 2016
Madam Chair, the answer to that would be only 546,000 Canadians are able to access EI benefits, a figure that is entirely inadequate given that the EI fund belongs workers and those who need it when they fall on hard times. I wonder if the minister believes that less than four in ten unemployed Canadians being able to access EI is an acceptable figure.
Business of Supply May 30th, 2016
Madam Chair, the answer is that almost 1.4 million Canadians are unemployed, and more than 900,000 work involuntarily part-time.
Moving to the issue of employment insurance, could the minister tell us how many Canadians are currently able to access EI benefits?