Madam Speaker, I rise with regard to a question I asked of the finance minister during question period on October 27.
At that time I brought to his attention the predicament of constituent Preston Tkatch who, along with millions of other Canadians, is being squeezed into poverty by the government's tax policies. As I pointed out to the minister, Mr. Tkatch's family is being squeezed so hard that he feels he would be better off on welfare. Indeed, with a monthly difference of approximately $200 between his take home pay and that of someone receiving welfare, he has a point. But all across the country there are millions of Canadians in the same boat.
I remind the government these are the same people on whose backs the government balanced the budget, some of whom find themselves on hospital waiting lists only to find that federal health cuts make the wait longer.
In any event, it was with this in mind that I asked the finance minister when could these families expect meaningful tax relief so that a wager earner like Mr. Tkatch would have an incentive to keep working instead of thinking about going on welfare.
The minister's response was nothing short of abysmal. I got nothing but a canned response which said in effect no tax relief, no employment insurance reduction. Basically just keep sending it and the finance minister will keep spending it.
Needless to say, Mr. Tkatch was not impressed either. I sent him a copy of the finance minister's answers and he took the time to share his thoughts with me: “It is very obvious that the Canadian government doesn't care about the average working class family”.
Mr. Tkatch is quite right in pointing out that the child tax benefit helps families in the lowest income bracket but it does nothing to help those in the low to middle income groups. He is the sole breadwinner in his family and his yearly income is $32,000. As a result of the sliding scale by which the child tax benefit is applied its effect on his situation is negligible.
I read more of what my constituent wrote to me: “Families of three or more dependants should not pay any taxes on income up to $30,000”. Think about that for a moment. The finance minister might think that is a lot to ask but I sure do not. That is the kind of tax relief I would like to see and there is no good reason why the finance minister cannot deliver this in the next budget. Unfortunately Canadians should not bother holding their breath waiting for it to happen.
I want to put the plight of this constituent into very personal terms for the parliamentary secretary. In his letter he states: “I get up at 6 a.m. every morning to leave for an 8 a.m. job and get home at 6 p.m, a 12 hour day for which the government takes over $8,000 per year in taxes. Maybe it is time I sleep in and hang around my yard waiting for a cheque”.
In view of this, my question now is the same as it was on October 27. What incentive is there for Mr. Tkatch to continue working instead of going on welfare or, to paraphrase him, why should he even bother to get out of bed?