Mr. Speaker, I am glad that it was not me who heard those comments during the election because I would have been absolutely disgusted and appalled.
I can give the member a personal experience. My brother-in-law, who has been married to my sister for four years, chose to stay home and raise his three daughters while my sister worked as a teacher. I made it very clear that this is not a gender issue. We are in the 1990s. Maybe some of the Liberal people who ran in the election were not aware of that. It is an issue where families have chosen to stay at home, especially when children are young and it is so important that they get that important start and that they get the nurturing, love and caring that they need and that they get the values.
Some families are just not in the financial situation where they can. Some have chosen that the second parent will only work half time because they want to be their for their children to give them that most important start.
If this government could recognize that there is so much unfairness in our tax system to these families, it might be able to have more people stay home if it gave them the same opportunities that it gives both parents who work.
If my wife went out and got a job for zero money, I would be further ahead because we would both be working and would be given different tax incentives which we are not now entitled to. That is the point. We could deduct $7,000 off our income for child care expenses. It is incredible.
The situation in my family is we have two very young children, ages 2 and 4. My wife was a professional and gave up her career. She would some day love to go back to work. Right now she believes it is so important for our two children. They need her at home right now. She is staying at home and gets zero, absolutely zero. What is even worse is that she does need time for herself. She does need a half a day. She does need a day. She would not get the same thing as if somebody takes her children off to day care. This is only one example. There are many, many areas in our system today where we do not recognize the importance of raising children as an important role in society. This tax unfairness is only one aspect.
We have a very important role to ensure that this gets recognition. This is one of the most important occupations in the land. I think it will go a long way to starting to change this kind of discrimination and tax fairness for all. I am going to be addressing this in the months ahead and pressing this government.