I think that the minimum income test is old and it doesn't reflect the new reality of the world. I'm really hoping the government will significantly reduce the minimum income requirement to allow more parents and grandparents.
I think we're looking at around 20,000 super visas issued a year. What are the immigration levels, 450,000? That's a pretty small percentage. I'd like to increase that. I think this is really clear.
There is not a significant financial burden for having a parent or a grandparent come and stay in your house. The belief that it is a financial burden is false, quite frankly. We know that when bringing a parent in, they're going to stay in your home. What's your extra cost? Maybe it's some additional food, and I don't even think it's that much. What we also know is that this can contribute to the economic well-being of those families. This can provide some additional child care, for example. Maybe it allows them to pick up an extra shift on the weekend, because they have a parent who will now be at home and be able to take care of the children. Maybe they decide on weekends that they're going to try to further their education or get additional training and therefore improve the economics of the family.
I think that more families having access to this is not only good for the families.... I'm not even talking about the social aspects of having a parent or a grandparent around. For so many families in so many cultures in Canada, this is a critical thing. My family was a nuclear family, but there are many cultures in Canada that have multi-generational families. This would help to encourage that. There's the social and cultural aspect of it.
I don't think the economic aspect of it can be overestimated. It's good for the family, which is good for the country. That's why I'm doing this.