moved:
That, in the opinion of this House, the government should legislate to grant a salary to mothers and fathers who stay at home to care for their children.
Mr. Speaker, on October 7, 1997, I tabled the following motion in the Order Paper and Notice Paper :
That, in the opinion of this House, the government should legislate to grant a salary to mothers and fathers who stay at home to care for their children.
I thank the Liberal member for Mississauga South, who seconded my motion today.
We have been promoting this idea, with the support of many Canadians, for several years. On April 28, 1998, I said in this House that Canadian and Quebec parents seem to have the best of intentions about sharing the job of raising children.
Canadians must recognize the contribution made by parents in raising their children and governments must give them the maximum support possible. It is my view, and that of many Canadians, that a guaranteed annual salary would be an important tool in the fight against poverty.
At the instigation of the Minister of Finance, an ad hoc Liberal committee was formed in April to examine possible solutions to the problem of unpaid work in the home.
In point of fact, the Income Tax Act discriminates against Canadian parents who choose to care for their own children, especially those who have large families.
An example is the Côté-Germain family of 1016 Quessey Street in Val d'Or, Abitibi, whose child tax benefit was cut by a whopping $280 a month this year. Right now there are nine children in this family, and in a few months there will be ten. The eleven of them are relying on a single gross annual salary of $55,000 and, to add insult to injury, are not entitled to a GST refund.
The Government of Canada's tax legislation does not take size of family into account. We should rethink our approach and draft legislation that is fair to Canadian families.
I would like to thank Beverley Smith of Calgary, who has worked for years with a group of Canadian stakeholders in support of salaries for women and men who stay at home to raise their children. For many years now, the people of Abitibi and Canadian MPs have known about my efforts to see mothers or fathers who stay at home to care for their children paid a salary.
I turn the floor over to my colleagues. Canadian parents want to hear whether or not you will be supporting my motion today.