Thank you.
In talking to the food banks, which are doing a marvellous job in my riding as well, some of the great folks who work there have said, and I believe you said the same on the record, that one of the differences now as opposed to before is how many individuals are employed and are working. Obviously, inflation has to be a driver there. The inflation that we've seen over the last couple of years is driving that.
The other issue I would put before you for your consideration, which wasn't mentioned but I believe is important, is that we look at the effect of clawbacks and taxation.
Imagine this. This is an actual case scenario. There's a couple and each of them earns $30,000 a year, so there's a total family income of $60,000. You mentioned the rent costs and food costs. You know what those are. They're paying in taxes close to $10,000. Let's say that mom or dad is offered an overtime shift. They'll get a total of $500. Between clawbacks and taxation, they will pay $249 of that back to the government.
Could you see the fact that low-income Canadians are often paying back half the dollars they earn...? These are folks earning $30,000 a year who are paying a 50% marginal effective tax rate. Could you also see that impacting their ability and effecting their food security?
Let me make it simple. If you're giving up 50% of your dollars, don't you have fewer dollars for food?