Mr. Speaker, I am practising my French, but I will be speaking in English today.
I thank members for their patience as I struggle through trying to learn the French language as best I can.
I stand today in opposition to the Leader of the Official Opposition's motion on the affordability matter the Conservatives brought forward, based on two premises. First, in my history in politics, which spans a short time, I remember that, in all the experience I have had in dealing with Conservatives, they talk about low-income people but I have since no evidence in any of their existence that they care about the low-income sector, the low-income families throughout this country. I even dare say I have never seen them do anything about any initiative for the middle-class people of our great country of Canada.
The third point I would make is that, with respect to the plan the Conservatives supposedly have, in my view, they have never developed a plan to address affordability for low- and medium-income Canadians ever. They have never had a plan, will never have a plan and certainly will not address those issues if, heaven forbid, they ever become the Government of Canada.
We do not take any lessons from the Conservatives on food affordability, especially not from the Leader of the Opposition, because he does not have any proven track record to address those matters. I just want to say at the outset that I oppose the motion on the premise that the Conservatives' history does not lend itself to having any credible argument when it comes to food affordability.
I have been an MP for 10 months, and I can say to the people of Saskatchewan, of which I represent the northern part, that I have seen the incredible amount of work the team on this side of the House has done to address the affordability piece, and it is wide-ranging. We are dealing with the challenge of trade throughout the world, including the fact that there have been all the tariffs put in place for Canadians. These are really tough moments for our country.
I will point out that the government, this team and all the people, including industry players, provincial leaders, producers and all the other folks, have all come together to stand up for Canada. We know, as we look at trade in general, they dictate a lot of prices. As I tour some of the stores back home in my community of Île-à-la-Crosse, I notice that on some of the produce, more importantly the fruit, it says, “product of U.S.A.” Really it comes from California. We ship in food to stock at our store in northern Saskatchewan, and it is products of the U.S.A.
We have enjoyed the trade over many decades with the U.S, and we can see that, obviously, the whole world is part of a trading perspective and that trade really does have influence on prices. Back home, what can we as a Canadian government, what can the Prime Minister, cabinet and caucus do to help all Canadians with the affordability issue?
I want to spend a few moments on what we are doing to reduce costs and help families that are struggling. The talking point in rural Saskatchewan is not affordability; it is whether families can stay in the community they love, and the government is making sure they can. Let me go to some of the points we are working on.
Affordability means access to essential services and support for middle- and low-income families. I am also proud to say we are also going to provide support for people who pay a lot of taxes and for people who realize the cost of living is really high. We know the issues are out there, and we want to do something to address that.
I want to go down a list of some of some of the issues I have learned about over the last nine months I have been an MP. The government has delivered a tax break for 22 million Canadians by eliminating the consumer carbon tax. This was done by our Prime Minister, and it was done fairly quickly.
We also spent hundreds of millions of dollars helping the provinces address the challenge of child care. I was in Saskatchewan several weeks ago, where I announced a $1.6-billion child care package. It is meant to help Saskatchewan families so that moms and dads, caregivers, are able to go to work without having really high day care costs to pay. What did I announce that day on behalf of the Government of Canada for all Canadians? I announced that the $10-a-day day care support package will remain in place so day care is affordable for working families.
It is working. Men and women are rejoining the workforce because child care is no longer a deterrent. They are building up our economy. They are working. They are making good money. They are paying taxes. Most families that we know are very appreciative of that.
We have also delivered the national school food program, feeding over 400,000 kids every year and saving the average family $800 annually on groceries. The government is making that happen. We have eliminated the GST for first-time homebuyers on homes under $1 million, saving Canadians up to $50,000 on their first home. A home is the grandest purchase most people make in their lifetime.
The government responded and helped, and I have more good news: The Canada groceries and essentials benefit would help invest $11.7 billion to help over 12 million Canadians afford day-to-day necessities.
Any day of the week, I could name other examples that are really important. We are building the one Canadian economy, attracting investment and also doing work among the provinces and the territories to eliminate any trade barriers. All that effort is meant to make us a cohesive, highly interactive trading nation from within. That action saves consumers a lot of extra costs. That work is continuing, positioning Canada as a world leader in trade, a reliable trading partner, and also helping with some of the ongoing costs of operating Canadian households throughout our country.
I rise today to say that it is important to recognize that Canada is a great country. We are doing a lot of good things. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely there is.
I am French, I am indigenous, but above all, I am Canadian.