Mr. Speaker, I thank all my hon. colleagues who spoke on Bill C-244. I appreciate their kind words. As a member of parliament, it can only help to encourage members to continue to work hard to resolve some of these issues. I want all members to know that I'll be back.
I will respond quickly to a couple of points that were raised. The NDP member suggested there seemed to be something for some people but not for others. He is quite right. The bill does focus on the middle class. The member should remember that the child tax benefit is only for low income Canadians who make under $25,000 in family income. The middle income earners really do not qualify for that.
On the other hand, the child care expense deduction is available for families where both parents work, but it is not available for those who provide care in the home to their own children. What is really left out here is the unpaid work, that vital work of providing care to children, and it is the stay at home parent who does this. At a time when home based businesses are becoming more prevalent there may be some more opportunities.
The Bloc member suggested there is an expense and that we should be careful about spending a lot of money. There is not just an expense but an investment that would result in lower health care costs, social program costs and criminal justice costs. We have to look at investing in the longer term to secure our long term fiscal health.
Both the Conservative and Reform members talked about the tax code. Surely we will be moving toward tax reform. I hope we will get the process started in this parliament.
When we consider the childcare expense deduction, $7,000 for a preschool child, high income earners where both are working will get a tax refund of $3,500. A low income earner would only get a tax refund of $1,750, all other things remaining equal. That means that someone who is paying $7,000 for childcare gets $1,750 more back if they have a higher income than someone with a lower income. It makes no sense. There is no fairness. There is no equity. It should be changed.
I hope this House will look at a way to determine whether or not the childcare expense deduction is an equitable instrument within our tax act to deal with the necessary expenses of raising children.
Finally, my colleague from Hamilton referred to the cost. There is no question. There is a big outflow in terms of reduced tax revenue. There are also some inflows to the extent that someone would withdraw from the workforce and provide direct parental care. Some unemployed people on welfare or EI are going to take those jobs, relieving us of the EI and welfare costs. They would also pay taxes on their income, which apparently we have lost. There are some offsetting revenues. Not all of them. There already are some parents who stay at home. They are sacrificing the opportunity to earn income.
I do understand the mathematics, but I also believe in my heart that the National Forum on Health is correct when it says that for every one dollar invested we will over the long term get two dollars back to cover our health care costs, social program costs and criminal justice costs.
To close, I want to thank my 16-year old daughter Whitney who said to me “Dad, this bill makes so much sense the government should just do it”. She has been a very staunch supporter of her father who is away so often. She is very interested in the divorce bill that I had about requiring mandatory counselling prior to legal separation. She tells me about the circumstances in her school and about children whose mothers and fathers are not at home. She is concerned about that. Even at the age of 16 our children recognize that there are problems. They detract from a child's ability to achieve his or her full potential.
I again thank all hon. colleagues for their very kind words. I intend to continue to work on behalf of the family and Canadian children.