Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak to the debate at second reading of the budget implementation act. I will take a little different tact from what my peers have done. They addressed a number of aspects of the budget and I concur with their comments. However, I want to take a little different direction.
Let me first point out that I believe this has to be a good process. Surely this is where the parliamentary process should be at its best. There can be a tendency, though, so I am told, due to the pressures and demands on our time, to lose sight of the fact that the decisions made here affect everyday people. Incrementally the lives of every Canadian are affected by every decision made in the House. This is particularly true of budget decisions, something of which many Canadians have become painfully aware.
Therefore, I think it is useful to remind ourselves of whom it is we are here to serve. It is the people of Canada and their positions on the issues of the day. Are we reflecting their position? How will individuals in our ridings be affected by the decisions we make?
Let us always be primarily mindful of the impacts on everyday Canadians and their families, not the partisan lobby groups that promise to re-elect us, not the self-proclaimed cultural elite that feel compelled to decide for us what Canadians need, and not the political favours being traded. Let us decide on the basis of how it will affect the lives of members of our constituencies who put us here. Let us reflect their concerns and make common sense decisions consistent with their desires and best interests.
It is within this context that I wish to make my comments on behalf of the families I represent. In Canada we pride ourselves on being fair and non-prejudicial. Yet for years we have tolerated an injustice perpetrated on the families of Canada.
The tax policies of this “liberal” government send a signal to parents who wish to be the primary caregivers of their children and raise them at home. That message is that this choice has no value. However, if they pay someone else to care for their children it does have value and is recognized in the tax treatment. The government is telling us, through its tax treatment, that parenting has no value or at least far less value than institutionalized care.
The government's message is negatively prejudicial against parents who wish to be the primary caregivers of their children. Over and above that, studies indicate that institutionalized child care is generally speaking—not always; there are always some exceptions—not in the best interest of children.
Under current tax laws in Canada, parents who choose to pay someone else to care for their children can claim the expense. Those who can or choose to forgo other activities and invest the majority of their time into the care and training of their children are told by our tax department that their efforts have no value. Therefore no tax considerations are given. This is a bad message. It is unfair and detrimental to the stability of our nation, and many families are calling out for changes.
The government has its priorities wrong by stating that parenting has less value than non-parental care, as implied by the tax treatment, and Canadians know this. We clearly recognize that not every one is able, due to circumstances or other personal reasons, to provide full time care for their children; but that is not a reason to treat unfairly those who choose to commit full time effort to caring and training of future generations.
It is for this reason the Reform Party has been calling for unfair prejudicial treatment to end by working to see implemented a child care deduction to all parents, including those who care for their children at home: $5,000 for every child under seven and $3,000 for every child seven to twelve years of age. Parents who can and want to should be encouraged, not discouraged, to provide as much direct parental care as possible.
Why do we take this position? It is what many families are calling for. It is well backed up by sound research that increased parental care is in the interest of the children. So it follows that it would be in the long term best interest of our country. They are our future citizens, our future leaders.
Allow me to refer to some thorough and respected research done on this very topic. The research I have today is from a well known research firm, the National Foundation for Research and Education on the Family. I will quote from a study it did for the Ontario government.
It found by more than a 10 to 1 margin that Ontarians felt it preferable for a young child to be at home with a parent than to be in institutionalized day care. It also found 77% of parents who had their children in non-parental care would have preferred to have provided parental care in retrospect. In addition, parents prefer family to day care. Given the choice between day care and a relative, 73% said that a relative would be preferable to institutionalized day care.
I could go on. I have a number of studies, but for the sake of time I quote from a cross-Canada study done in 1991. The question was: “If you had the choice, would you stay at home to raise your children or would you work outside your home and use day care?” Of course 70% said “Certainly I would prefer to stay home”. It was by far the majority, yet we have tax policies and tax treatment today which say this has no value but institutionalized day care does.
For this reason I brought this matter forward today. For some time now the Reform Party, as part of its policies, called for change in this area and for fair treatment of families. We argue that parents should have access to at least equal tax treatment which is not dependent on how they choose to care for their children. It is a reasonable position. Reform cares about families.
Let me quote from our policy book one of our key principles that has been foundational to the Reform Party and the reason I raise this issue today. Our seventh principle says that the Reform Party recognizes the importance of strengthening and protecting the family unit as essential to the well-being of individuals and society.
We also recognize in our policy book that it is the duty of parents to raise children according to their own conscience and beliefs. We further affirm that no person or government or agency has the right to interfere with the exercise of that duty as long as the actions of parents do not constitute abuse or neglect.
The Reform Party recognizes the important work that parents do. We want to give them every opportunity and encouragement to invest in the lives of future generations. Why? Because it is in the long term best interest of a strong and healthy society in the years to come. Unfortunately the Liberal budget like many before it does not respect this principle or the work that parents do.