Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Don Valley East. At least she has a lot of respect for the House and does not engage in personal attacks, like the previous speaker, the member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine. I find it disgusting, and I thank the member for Don Valley East for her decorum.
However, I do find it odd that she would criticize our budget of 2007 for not assisting low income Canadians, specifically low income single moms, when in reality, the budget of 2006 did just that.
For instance, let us take the example of one of a member's constituents, a hypothetical single working mother of two earning $30,000 a year in Thorncliffe.
Under the former Liberal government, of which the member was a part, that single mom would have paid over $400 in taxes. However, because of the Conservative government's first two budgets, which the member voted against, that single mother's tax bill is zero. That $400 in tax relief may not seem much to a Liberal, but to that single mom in Thorncliffe Park, it will make a big difference in her life. In fact, in our first two budgets, we removed 885,000 Canadians off the tax rolls altogether.
Our budgets have also brought in numerous measures benefiting those with incomes too low to pay personal income tax, like the one point GST cut and the $1,200 universal child care benefit for families with children under six. These new initiatives are in addition to already existing support for low income families provided through the GST credit, the Canada child tax benefit and the national child benefit supplement.
A major positive development for low income Canadians in budget 2007 was the working income tax benefit, a new initiative assisting Canadians into a more prosperous life for themselves and their families.
I want to quote a few of the organizations and the individuals who found our budget very worthy. The Canadian Labour Congress called the benefit an initiative “worthy of support”. The Canadian Association for Community Living said it would “assist people with disabilities over the welfare wall”. The Retail Council of Canada said it “should help to reduce the disincentives for some individuals to leave welfare with paid work”.
I find it odd that the member for Don Valley East would vote against a budget that restored the fiscal balance, bringing federal support for Ontario to $12.8 billion. Maybe she should have consulted with some of her provincial colleagues before she voted against the budget.
Maybe she should have consulted with Premier Dalton McGuinty, who said that budget 2007 “represents real progress for Ontarians”. Perhaps she should have talked to the finance minister, Greg Sorbara, who said there are “real positives for Ontario” in budget 2007. Maybe she should have spoken to the energy minister, Dwight Duncan, who said budget 2007 was “a good step forward and the kind of thing we wanted to see”.
I want to ask the member for Don Valley East this. Was Dalton McGuinty wrong? Was Greg Sorbara wrong? Was Dwight Duncan wrong? Was Bob Delaney wrong. I would like to know what the member for Don Valley East thinks of that.