Mr. Speaker, I am not sure how to answer that speech. I will start with the bankers.
Hurrah for the bankers. If they think this legislation and the practice of affirmative action is good, then let them do it. Nobody cares. If that is what they want to do, they should be entitled to. That is democracy.
What I do not think should happen is that somebody be forced into doing something that may not be the right thing to do in terms of the business, whatever that might be. I think we have to trust the judgment of employers to make certain that they do not discriminate. If they wish to have a hiring practice that resembles employment equity or affirmative action or whatever, that is democracy. Let it be their choice. There is nothing wrong with that.
I do not believe that mothers with children who choose to stay at home want to be paid. I do not think that is their request, any more than they like to pay day care and babysitters. However, I do believe that if this government were listening to some of the tax proposals and tax incentives, there are things it could do that would make it possible. The government talks about spending more money by letting mothers stay at home. I do not understand. Let them work and you are going to spend money paying day care. Do
not pay for day care. Save that money so mothers can stay home with their children and give tax breaks to the providers of the home.
Maybe they have a problem understanding arithmetic, but it makes sense to me. It used to be that married couples with one of them staying home were able to do so, but now they are not able to do so because they are treated the same way as married couples who are both working.
We can do a lot in that area. I suppose that is another topic. But no, mothers do not expect to be paid. If we are going to give extra money to other women who can work, if we are going to pay others to look after their children so they can work, then if we want to be equal I guess we will have to do the same thing for the mom who decides to stay home.
At any rate, there are not many things she said that made any sense to me. That is understandable, considering the source.