Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the finance minister for the hundreds of thousands of Canadians he consulted on this budget.
To emphasize the benefits that this budget would have to my rural community and rural communities across Canada, the $500-million investment in digital infrastructure would go a long way to help small businesses grow and compete on the world stage. The infrastructure investments that were announced in this budget would greatly transform a number of rural municipalities in my riding that are looking for upgrades in their sewage treatment plants, which are about to break down, or expand the water filtration plant that is serving both a local municipality and the Mohawk territory. The filtration plant that exists today is already past its maximum use.
As for the guaranteed income supplement, when I knocked on seniors' doors, they said to me, “Mike, I'm trying to figure out, do I heat or do I eat”.
The Canada child benefit would lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty, including in my own riding.
I would like the minister to, once again, point out how much this budget would impact rural Canada and why we need to get to work to bring about growth in rural Canada.