Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to participate in this debate on Bill C-241 on behalf of the official opposition and I would like to start by congratulating the hon. member for putting this bill forward for this House to consider. I might add that it is unfortunate that it cannot be voted on.
Such is the will of the members. Her intentions were commendable, but at the same time, this goes to show how the government, by refusing to make this bill a votable item, is really only paying lip service to the idea behind it. The hon. member ought to be commended for her good intentions, but this goes to show at the same time that this government does not care too much for her initiative.
Bill C-241 is, in my opinion, very positive from the point of view of its title: an act to amend the Income Tax Act (child support payments).
Interestingly enough, of all the forms of child support, the one that immediately comes to mind is, of course, alimony. There has been a debate on this issue, as we know.
In Quebec, I can think of Mrs. Thibaudeau's case. This lady took her case all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada to try to make the point that the parent, generally the mother, who has custody of the children after a divorce, should not have to declare a portion of the amount received for child support on his or her income tax return, because, for the non custodial parent paying support, this amount is exempt from tax, it is deductible.
The fact of the matter is that there are more women than men in this situation, since, as we know, 85 per cent of single parents facing this kind of situation are women.
We must also remember something else. In spite of the debates in this House on child poverty, as well as the laudable initiatives of members from all parties to make life more comfortable for children, one out of every five children in Canada lives in poverty. This is a serious problem.
The government often boasts about our country being the best in the world. Yet, one Canadian child in five lives in poverty. As you know, children are not the only ones living in poverty. If they are poor, it is because their parents, their mother or their father are poor. Poor children are not all orphans. Their families are in very dire straits.
The measure proposed by the hon. member is interesting, because the person who has custody would not have to declare the money received for support, thus making it tax exempt. We, the official opposition, are in favour of that.
However, when we listen and talk to people, and when we have debates in this House, we realize that we have to be careful. That initiative must be part of a comprehensive strategy, because, taken separately, it might incite judges to take into account the fact that the spouse who pays for support can no longer deduct that amount for tax purposes, and thus lower the level of that support. We must ensure that the person receiving support payments is not penalized by getting considerably less money.
This proposal must be part of a comprehensive policy. We must avoid any boomerang effect and ensure that we do not end up penalizing the person in charge of the family. That would defeat the purpose.
In Canada, we used to have family allowances. Now we have child tax benefits. I find it deplorable that people who work, unlike in Quebec, cannot benefit from tax deductions for children.
Many parents in Quebec believe that, and rightly so. They want some incentives to have children. They are looking at the government for measures to help them take good care of their families, while we are in a situation, as everyone knows, where the population is aging, the birth rate is dropping, a larger segment of the population is becoming more impoverished and the social inequities are growing because of various economic considerations which I do not have time to list in the ten minutes I have. Last, we have very few measures which encourage young Canadians to have a family.
Also, we are considering this motion the very same day the Minister of Human Resources Development is introducing changes to the Unemployment Insurance Act in order to further restrict eligibility to UI benefits for new claimants or people who have not been working for a very long time, without taking many measures to really create jobs. Everywhere we look, there seems to be an impending threat, not only a perceived threat, but in some areas, a real one.
In Ontario, the government is thinking of increasing tuition fees and of decreasing education subsidies. So, we see in the end that the young people in particular-and I remind the House that I am the BQ critic for training and youth-feel like they are continually caught in a stranglehold. Under such circumstances, how can we blame the young people who choose to wait to have children, since their economic situation is becoming increasingly difficult?
I want to congratulate the hon. member for Nepean for a very praiseworthy motion. However, I cannot help but notice that the government, especially this past week, has been considering motions, resolutions and even a bill on such issues as the distinct society, the veto, and so on. I can see that the hon. member opposite is serious and well-intentioned. But, in reality, I deplore the fact that this Parliament seems to become more and more a place for lofty speeches, for rhetoric-and I contribute to that by making one myself today-a place where the government seems less and less willing to do anything but look for ways to cut its spending, more often than not on the back of the disadvantaged. Who are the disadvantaged? Often they are single parents, women, who represent a large percentage of the population, as well as children, since one in five children lives in poverty. I do not see anything in this motion that will correct this situation. It is a good measure, but we can see that there is a lack of willingness to do something on the part of the government.
I hope that the government will soon leave the rhetoric aside and start looking at positive ways of encouraging young people and others to start a family. In spite of that, I do not want to be seen as being too strongly in favour of pro-natalist measures because women have the right to decide for themselves if they want children or not and how many. I do not question this fundamental right, but it is a question we must ask ourselves from a social viewpoint. We must take the necessary measures and soon.
I am a baby boomer, I am 48 years old, and here is what might happen to some of us.
If there are not enough young people entering the labour force, paying taxes and contributing to private pension plans, the people coming after us may not receive a pension. This may even happen to us, as we see that old age pensions, for those who are now under 65, are among the measures being considered. If we do not have enough children and if these children do not start life in a secure environment so that they have an incentive to continue improving our society, I fear the worst.