Mr. Speaker, last October, I rose to draw the government's attention to the fact that thousands of Canadians continue to live in precarious circumstances. The most recent data show that nearly one in seven Canadians are still living in poverty. That is unacceptable.
This is an alarming situation, since the most recent Campaign 2000 report indicates that nearly five million Canadians are living in poverty. My thoughts go out to those thousands of families who are struggling under the burden of debt. According to Statistics Canada, Canadian households carry an average debt of $162,400, the highest in the G7.
We cannot allow families to continue to fall a little further into debt each year. Today, the average family has $1.53 of debt for every dollar earned, which is unacceptable. The NDP believes that it is high time we made life more affordable for these families and reduced that burden. I am therefore asking the government to stop sitting on its hands and take immediate action to put an end to this situation.
I invite the Liberals to realize that the results we are seeing from the economic policies that they have put in place since 2015 are not as positive as they would have us believe. In fact, the gap between the rich and the poor in Canada has never been wider.
Just a few weeks ago, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives published a report showing that Canada's richest CEOs earn nearly 200 times as much as the average worker. That is unfair. It is unfair to workers. It is unfair to families. It is unfair to everyone. The NDP is focused on putting forward solutions to make our country more fair and equitable, a place where the privileged and friends of those in power contribute their fair share and the people get the services they need. This situation is worrisome and should alert the government to the harsh reality facing too many of our fellow citizens in all of our ridings.
Household debt and growing inequality are hardly the only things I am concerned about.
I am very worried about the fact that this government is doing nothing to help seniors who are still not receiving the guaranteed income supplement automatically and have trouble making ends meet. The FADOQ and its Richelieu-Yamaska regional branch are to be commended for drawing attention to this injustice and demanding that the government take action. Their demands mirror our own. They can count on my support and on the NDP caucus to represent them.
I remind members once again that this government promised to help hundreds of thousands of seniors out of poverty, but this government let these seniors down. This is completely unacceptable. There is, however, a simple solution: make the guaranteed income supplement automatic for everyone. This is why the NDP has long been calling for the guaranteed income supplement to be given to everyone eligible to receive it, since the NDP believes that it is impossible for these seniors to live on less than $10,000.
Can we finally guarantee them a decent income and give them the supplement they are entitled to? I do not think this is too much to ask.