Mr. Speaker, today, for the first time, a majority of Canadians believe that their children will be worse off than them.
Last June, the House passed my motion directing the finance committee to study the issue of income inequality and to recommend policies to improve equality of opportunity. This month, that study began, and a consensus is emerging about what governments can do.
So far, experts are telling us to strengthen the working income tax benefit and break down the welfare wall by reducing government clawbacks for low-income Canadians who are working; to make tax credits refundable so that low-income Canadians are not perversely excluded from programs like the family caregiver tax credit; and to invest in affordable early learning and child care so that children can get a good start, and the parents who want to work can afford proper early learning opportunities for their children.
Canadians work hard so that they and their children can get ahead. As parliamentarians, let us do more to strengthen the equality of opportunity in Canada. After all, it is the cornerstone on which all just societies are built.