Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to stand to speak on a Conservative opposition day, which is kind of a flashback to the last election. If we take the time to read the motion the Conservatives put forward, we cannot help but think of the last federal election. I will remind my friends across the way that the things the Conservatives are talking about are the things that they incorporated into their last platform.
I would like to show some contrasts that will clearly demonstrate why Canadians as a whole rejected the Conservative Party and chose to elect a new Prime Minister and 70 new Liberal members of Parliament. This is, for all intents and purposes, a new government with a Prime Minister who has a single focus on building Canada strong, which is something that we can see in the many measures that have been taken since the last federal election.
We had an extensive party platform that Canadians understood and supported by voting for us. I will indicate very clearly that, as we all know, this is a minority government. It is a very close minority government, but at the end of the day, this shows the need for the government to work with opposition parties. It equally demonstrates that opposition parties also have to work with the government, but the contrast between the Liberals and the Conservatives is truly amazing.
The member who spoke just before me talked about the issue of affordability. Let us go back to the last election, when the Conservatives set their agenda on affordability and we put forward our agenda on affordability. Our new Prime Minister got rid of the carbon tax to give Canadians increased disposable income. Affordability was the reason the Prime Minister and the government reduced personal income tax, and 22 million taxpayers benefited from that.
Dealing with affordability, we will have to wait to see what the Conservatives are going to do in regard to yesterday's announcement on the groceries and essentials benefit, which is a program that would be there for all Canadians. Over 10 million Canadians would benefit from that. For many of them, it would be hundreds of dollars, going into well over $1,000.
I can say that the residents of Winnipeg North would benefit from that when it comes to affordability. We recognize the hardship that many Canadians are facing today. That is the reason, unlike governments in many other nations around the world, this Prime Minister and this government have brought forward that initiative, which was announced yesterday by the Prime Minister.
I would like to think that the Conservatives would support that particular initiative. It is hard to say because we have still not passed the budget implementation bill from last year, as the Conservatives have chosen to even delay and filibuster budget legislation, just getting it implemented, from last year.
It is interesting. The Conservatives have taken their platform, put it into a package and called it “a Canadian Sovereignty Act”. They would take their platform and put it into law.
I would counter that by looking at our platform from the last election, which was to build Canada strong. That is something that we said that we were going to do, and that is exactly what we are doing.
I take a look at what took place virtually immediately after the last election. We had a proactive Prime Minister who was aggressively working with all provinces, territories and others to take down interprovincial barriers.