Mr. Chair, I was just trying to make the point that as we experience growth on the back end of this pandemic, it is essential that we try to build growth in a way that works for everyone. We know this pandemic has hit women and young people harder than others. We know this pandemic has disproportionately impacted Black Canadians, indigenous Canadians and folks from different walks of life.
As we seek to go forward, investments like the new national child care and early childhood education strategy will ensure more women can take part in the workforce. Historic investments in excess of $5.7 billion will support young Canadians and reduce barriers of access to education, so we will not only create cost savings in the short term for them but set them up for long-term success.
The hon. member bookended his remarks with the idea of intergenerational fairness. The previous speakers had an exchange on the same issue in the context of making the kinds of investments now that, yes, may be expensive but will set us up for long-term success.
We cannot have a conversation about intergenerational fairness without discussing the real impact that climate change is having on people today and the disproportionate impact that young people should expect to live with if we continue on the path we are on.
I am extraordinarily proud of some of the investments we have made over the past number of years, the recent commitment to legislate targets in Canadian law and the investments included in this budget that will spur innovation in clean technology, provide tax incentives for people who manufacture zero-emissions technology and inspire us to adopt clean electricity more rapidly. We have investments to help deep home energy retrofits that will put people to work, reduce our emissions and reduce the cost of electricity.
When it comes to intergenerational fairness, members know as well as I do that we need to take action today to mitigate the worst consequences of climate change, so my daughter's generation has a world where she can live and work as she sees fit.