Mr. Speaker, the hon. gentleman is indeed right. The so-called welfare wall needs to come down before true economic opportunity can go up.
I was therefore very pleased on Monday in the fiscal update to announce our intention to work with provinces and territories to develop a new working income tax benefit that would help people in this situation keep more of the money they earn and encourage them to take those critically important steps toward employment and self-sufficiency.
The Government of Canada is prepared to invest $2.25 billion in this important innovation in social and tax policy.