Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour and gives me pleasure to talk about budget 2017, as this is our government's next ambitious step toward investments that will create jobs, grow our economy, and provide more opportunities for the middle class and those working hard to join it.
Budget 2017 is focused on fairness for families, workers, and taxpayers. It is critical that we continue to invest in affordable housing, infrastructure, high-skilled job training, and the economy as a whole. Particularly, budget 2017 brings a lot of good news for my riding of Brampton North and the city of Brampton itself.
I have received numerous messages from many of my friends who are about my age, who have young families or families on the way, who were really excited to hear about the maternity leave plan. They were excited to learn that they can claim up to 12 weeks now before their due date, and that is up from the current eight weeks. This provides a lot of flexibility for a lot of women who may work in dangerous jobs, may have different health conditions, and need to take time off before their due date.
Budget 2017 also provides an extended leave beyond the 12-month parental leave. This provides a lot of families with flexibility. Now one can claim up to 18 months, with job security. I know that the overall amount is not different, but that is because we need to factor in many things. We need to factor in how this affects small to medium businesses, and we also need to provide families with the capability of staying at home with a loved one. In budget 2017, we were able to reach a good, comfortable position where families can take advantage of the extra time when child care costs are very high, before 18 months. After 18 months, they can have that job security, go back to work, and go back to growing our economy.
Also, as co-chair for the entrepreneur caucus, I have been hearing from a lot of business people who were worried at first, but are now relieved that they will be able to provide their workers with leave, be able to secure good workers, and allow them to have leave without it costing them a whole lot more. I commend budget 2017 for taking those steps, because it really is helping parents who are in the workforce and also have families. We do not have to sacrifice family for work.
There are many other changes that came in budget 2017, and tax fairness is one of them. Our government has continued to improve tax fairness for Canadian families by closing loopholes, eliminating measures that disproportionately favour the wealthy, and cracking down on tax evasion so that every Canadian has a real and fair chance at success.
The government's plan in budget 2017 is to close tax loopholes that result in unfair tax advantages at the expense of others. It has also invested $524 million to support the CRA in its continued efforts to crack down on tax cheats. It has taken steps toward eliminating tax measures that disproportionately benefit the wealthy.
Many taxi drivers in my riding have come to my office and shown their appreciation for the tax on the ride-sharing program. I know that it may be unpopular, but tax fairness is what we are talking about. If taxi drivers have to pay HST to the government, so should Uber drivers. It is only fair that those who provide equal services pay their fair share. I am very pleased to say that a big group of taxi drivers will be coming tomorrow for the budget vote, a group of 40 to 50 people who want to show the government their support because finally someone has listened to them, looked at our tax regulations, and figured out that there were those who were evading taxes, who should not have been. I applaud budget 2017 for doing that.
The EI caregiver benefit is another wonderful thing budget 2017 would give Canadians. It would provide up to 15 weeks for individuals to provide care for adult family members who require significant support as they recover from critical illnesses or injuries. Previously, one had to have a medical note from a doctor stating that a family member was at the near-death stage. In many cultural communities and in many places, it is very difficult for people to declare that family members are near death, even if they are. There are a lot of superstitions around doing so. Budget 2017 has struck the right chord again by providing flexibility.
Mr. Speaker, I forgot to mention at the beginning of my speech that I will be splitting my time with the member for Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel.
As I was saying, there is more flexibility for families. Parents of critically ill children would continue to have access to up to 35 weeks of benefits, with added flexibility for other family members as well. This is fantastic news, because after all, this is what our government is about. It is about supporting families while growing our economy.
I am very excited about budget 2017, because Brampton will soon have a university, and this will help our city greatly. Seven hundred and forty-one million dollars is proposed for investments to accelerate infrastructure projects for universities and colleges through the post-secondary institutions strategic investment fund. This is a key tool for my city of Brampton, as we are looking to expand Ryerson to our city. We have a very young, vibrant community. The average age is 34.5. We have a very smart workforce in Brampton, and this university is going to allow us to develop our innovation. There are going to be a lot more businesses brought into our city because of this. The funding would also help the university progress.
Budget 2017 would also provide health care relief that is long overdue in my riding of Brampton North. I cannot tell members the number of conversations I have had with people who are seeking mental health support. Mental health is a serious issue in Canada today. Mental health has been underfunded for years. I know that our provinces understand the need for mental illness funding, but they have not always had the means to fund that area. More than $6 billion over 10 years would be provided for home care, and more than $5 billion over 10 years would be provided specifically for mental health.
We have been underserved in Brampton for a long time. We have a population of 600,000, but we have very few support workers in this area. Budget 2017 would give us the relief we need.
Also, I am very excited to say that budget 2017 has announcements about AI, artificial intelligence. We had the Prime Minister in Brampton just recently making AI announcements. These are jobs of the future, and they are jobs of today. We are allowing current companies and manufacturers to advance their skills and technologies and to be leaders in the world. They can provide the types of jobs our youth are craving.
I am also very happy to announce that today the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour are in Brampton to announce that there will be a lot of help provided through budget 2017 to help internationally trained newcomers to Canada, who often face challenges in getting their credentials recognized so they can find work.
People come to my office all the time who are working in labour jobs, and we are losing those skills. We are losing the skills we can use and benefit from in Canada.
I am thankful for the opportunity to highlight some of the key issues for my city and how budget 2017 is going to improve the lives of Canadians and Bramptonians.