Mr. Speaker, I am absolutely sure today that we are going to hear a great deal about the importance of raising our children and care giving, no matter what choice is made by parents.
This morning the hon. member raised a couple of issues that I would like to pose to him. The first issue is the differential between the basic amount, the non-refundable tax credit for individuals, which is $6,452 I believe, and the spousal amount, which I believe is $5,380. One of the recommendations is that we equalize those because they should not be different.
I wonder if the member would comment on why he did not take into account the fact that spouses who stay in the home can in fact earn $538 of taxable income before any of the non-refundable credit would be eliminated. There is in fact another component that he has totally missed.
The primary question concerns a problem I have with the motion itself. The member consulted with me yesterday and I suggested to him a change which he did not accept. The motion states that the tax act discriminates against single earning families with children. One out of six families in Canada are lone-parent, one-income families. Why is the member excluding single income, single parent families from the motion?