Mr. Speaker, I know my hon. colleague does not want us to talk about the budget because he supports an opposition motion which is designed to prevent the debate around that motion.
However, if members recall, and I hope that my hon. colleague was listening, I framed all of my remarks in the context of juxtaposing the priorities of the opposition Conservatives, which is to delay, impede, and obstruct the real priorities of Canadians. This is an obvious effort at delay. It is not about elevating the standard of ethics in this House. We know that. At every opportunity, the Conservatives will stand up and try to stop us from creating jobs and from lowering unemployment. We cannot stand for that. It is too important.
When the government was elected, this country was at an all-time weak and low point of growth, the worst since the Great Depression. We have turned it around. That is exactly what our constituents are talking about in my riding, and I believe many of my colleagues are hearing the same thing. We want to keep the momentum going.
This opposition motion is not the first time that the Conservatives have tried to stray the government and take public attention away from the hard and good work that is being done by the government. We saw it a little over two weeks ago when the opposition Conservatives brought forward a needless and unnecessary filibuster. What was the opportunity that we were deprived of back then? We were deprived of the precious time to debate how we can rid our communities of gun violence. This is something that has touched the people of my riding on a very personal level. At a family establishment where I take my two girls like many other parents, less than a month ago, we saw two people's lives lost as a result of gun violence.
If we cannot address the scourge of gun violence through organized crime in this chamber, then we are not living up to the high standards that Canadians demand of this place. This goes back to my point about raising the level of debate in this chamber, doing away with the kind of filibustering and redundant motions we see here. Let us have a debate. Let us have a thoughtful debate on the substantive merits of our policy, of our legislative agenda.
I encourage my Conservative colleagues to come forward with ways we can improve our legislation, but they do not do that. They instead choose to find ways to prevent us from talking about the budget. There are a few things that I want to highlight from the 2018 budget which we ought to have been debating this morning and this week, but we are now being deprived of that opportunity as a result of the Conservative motion. To assure my colleagues, I will come back to address the words of the motion in their expressed form in due course.
What should we be talking about to advance the priorities I am hearing about from my constituency in Eglinton—Lawrence? How do we provide support for that economic growth that I referred to before? There are a number of things that the 2018 budget implementation bill will do to advance those goals which matter to my constituents, like introducing the Canada workers benefit. We all know that many Canadians, notwithstanding the significant progress we have made in the last few years, are continuing to struggle. We are responsive to those concerns.
We introduced a number of mechanisms prior to the 2018 budget, which I think all members should be celebrating, including the introduction of the Canada child benefit. That is helping millions of Canadians and families. It has lifted approximately 300,000 children out of poverty. It has contributed to our economic growth, the fastest-growing economy in the G7. Part of that ongoing conversation about how we can provide support to low-income earners has given rise to the creation of a new Canada workers benefit.
This budget will ensure that we increase both maximum benefits and the income level at which the benefit is phased out. As a result, a low-income worker earning $15,000 could receive up to almost $500 more in 2019. That is an important and meaningful increase. That means that the parents I speak to in my riding, in a community like Lawrence Heights or Lotherton, who I often engage with, will be able to provide student supplies, or perhaps send their child to child care or an extracurricular activity. These are important conversations. We would not be bogged down in going back over covered terrain with respect to the kinds of motions being brought forward this morning.
My other colleagues who have spoken against this motion this morning have raised the fact that we cannot be complacent when it comes to the Canada child benefit plan. We have proposed in the 2018 budget to index it, so we can keep pace with the increases to the standard of living and the costs, which are something we have to be very vigilant about.
Another topic I have heard a lot about over the course of the last two weeks, and for quite some time, is how we can create the conditions which are conducive for small and medium-sized businesses. This is something my Conservative colleagues often trumpet. They are the great champions of small business. This government, in keeping with its campaign pledge, is lowering taxes for small businesses. If we cannot debate the budget, which I know the Conservatives do not want us to do, then that is potentially one more day that a small business owner in my riding will not be able to avail themselves of a lower, more competitive corporate tax and business tax regime. Therefore, I call upon my opposition colleagues to think about their own rhetoric when it comes to being the great champions of industry, enterprise, and small business, and to live up to those commitments by debating the merits of the policy, not by filibustering, by wasting time, and by bringing motions like the one we have seen this morning.
I also mentioned that among the many priorities I have heard in the last two non-sitting weeks was the ongoing conversation we are having about how to protect our environment while at the same time getting our natural resources to export markets in a sustainable way. I have listened very carefully to my colleagues in the Conservative ranks. I respect their passion and I understand their frustration. We want to see every single Canadian and sector succeed and thrive.
For the life of me, I do not understand why we see members of the other side resorting to the hyperbolic exaggerated comments that are so completely divorced from reality. These are blanket statements, such as, “this government does not believe in” or “does not care”, or most recently and alarmingly from a former colleague of my friends on the opposite side of the aisle, “Canada is broken.” Canada is not broken. Canada is the greatest country in the world. We are very fortunate to live in this country. We should not be resorting to that kind of negative rhetoric, which undermines confidence in public institutions like this one right here. Do we have our disagreements from time to time? Absolutely. Do we have fundamental disagreements on policy? Without question. That is healthy in a democracy. However, to see the kind of stoking of division and fear—