Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the NDP for introducing this very important motion today. It really deals with the hearts of many of the constituents that we serve.
My colleague on the other side has a lot of experience, as we all do, with this issue. I would like to ask him whether or not he thinks it would be intelligent for the government to, yes, lower taxes for those who are in the poorest economic brackets but also to provide a Canadian low income supplement for those who make less than $25,000 a year.
In doing so, it could be an effective redistribution of money for those who need it across age groups, which would include singles, families, the young and the old. The premise, the condition, would be based on the amount of income that one makes.
We all see the number of people, whether they are seniors living in penury, families trying to make ends meet, or singles who are living hand to mouth, who have the fundamental challenge of not having enough money in their pockets to pay for their basic needs.
I would like to ask the member, what is his opinion on a Canadian low income supplement? I have a private member's bill to do this. The amount of $2,000 would go into the hands of people who make less than $20,000 a year, and which would decline linearly to $40,000. In doing so, we would actually get real money into the hands of those who need it the most, and it would not compromise our economics or negatively hurt our private sector.