Madam Speaker, I welcome this opportunity to address the private member's motion introduced by the hon. member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik.
Let me say at the outset that I applaud my colleague for his interest in the matter of support for families. Last month we debated his previous motion on this issue.
Few issues matter more to the government than nurturing Canadian children, both for their inherent value and for our collective future. There can be no debate that we need to support all Canadian families if they undertake the important work of raising the next generation of workers, artists, parents and community leaders.
This government shares my hon. colleague's concern for Canadian families and the challenges they face. However, I am not convinced that the best way to address those challenges would be by providing a salary for stay-at-home parents with pre-school aged children.
It is important to recognize that the Income Tax Act already includes a number of provisions to assist parents who choose to remain in the home. The spousal credit reduces income tax when one spouse earns little income and stays at home. This measure allows the taxpayer supporting a spouse to reduce the amount of federal tax paid by $915.
As well, the Canada child tax benefit is based on family income and provides a special annual supplement of $213 for each child under the age of seven for families where one parent stays home. This benefit is provided to three million Canadian families.
There is also the caregivers tax credit which offers a credit of up to $400 to individuals who care for either elderly relatives or disabled children.
The child care expense deduction available to working parents is designed to provide assistance to families who must incur child care expenses. Without this support many would not be able to earn an income, attend school or take a full time training course. Eight hundred thousand taxpayers count on this deduction to help compensate them for the additional costs they must bear for child care.
This debate should also focus on the crucial consideration of the needs of children. While we must ensure that parents receive credit for the task they are doing, our overriding concern ought to be the health and welfare of the next generation.
It is precisely because this government is committed to ensuring a good start for all of Canada's children that we launched the national child benefit system with our provincial partners. It will help millions of low income Canadian families with children, regardless of their child care arrangements.
With the additional $850 million committed in the 1998 budget, there will be a total of $1.7 billion each year in new income support for Canadian families. This is in addition to the $5.1 billion in existing benefits and will bring federal income support for families with children to just under $7 billion.
Our innovative and progressive programs, such as the national child benefit system, will get Canadian children off to a good start in life by improving benefits and helping parents re-enter the job market so they can better meet their own children's needs.
Even though Motion M-486 is obviously well intentioned, our government remains convinced that the best course is to build on the programs we have and that is why I am unable to support this motion at this time.