Madam Speaker, the Liberals' financial plan is failing to go after large corporate abusers of the wage subsidy while planning a 40% cut for the 1.5 million Canadians who are still depending on the Canada recovery benefit in order to make rent and put food on the table.
New Democrats have raised this issue many times in the House, and the government's answer has been either completely ignorant or totally disingenuous. When we express skepticism about the budget, government members say, “Oh the NDP, if they vote against the budget, they are voting against an extension of the Canada recovery benefit”. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The problem is that the Liberals refuse to admit that there is a possibility, other than terminating the benefit or cutting the benefit, which is to continue the benefit at the current rate. So, while they are content to allow corporate abusers of the wage subsidy get off scot-free, I think it is totally inappropriate for them to be going after all these Canadians who still have not been able to go back to work, who are depending on the Canada recovery benefit and who cannot afford to go from $2,000 a month down to $1,200 a month.
I want to know what the member has to say to that, and do not tell me that it is a choice between either terminating the benefit or cutting the benefit, because we all know that if the government had the right intention, it could extend the benefit at the current rate.