Deborah Grey

[Taxation, March 8th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, talk about a lack of understanding. I think we have seen it demonstrated right there.

The minister can talk about graphs. She can talk about $4,400. She can talk about child tax benefit all she likes, but the government knows that these people are paying 60% to 100% more in the tax system. There is nothing fair about that. The lack of understanding is on the government side.

I would like to ask the minister, as soon as she sits down to hear the question, why the government will not make this fair in the tax system for families that choose to stay at home with their kids.

[Taxation, March 8th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell you what pits families against each other. It is that a dual income family and a single income family pay such discrepant tax rates, and it is the government that does it.

The government has discriminated against parents who choose to have one of their spouses at home when they have children. The government has opted in budget after budget to let this discrimination continue. It is wrong.

I would like to know for those backbenchers who have the courage to vote against this discrimination tomorrow night, how he will force his MPs to continue to abandon their principles?

[Taxation, March 8th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, we have been debating family tax fairness for days now but the Liberal excuse for rejecting our motion tomorrow is not exactly clear. Evidently they have to vote against it just because the opposition brought it forward.

Let me read that motion again:

That... the federal tax system should be reformed to end discrimination against single income families with children.

How on earth does the Prime Minister justify forcing his MPs to vote against that?

[Families, March 4th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, it is one thing to try to defend the indefensible. It is not going to fly. Right across these government benches we have seen people stick their foot in their mouth for days now and they are not defending the indefensible because there is no way they can do it.

When we talk about discrimination, is $4,000 more to pay in taxes not discrimination? What about this government which continues to discriminate against parents who stay at home with their kids? When will the Prime Minister make this right and tell these people they are not just taking the easy way out?

[Families, March 4th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, if this government really loved children I dare say it would not have allowed child pornography to go through. Is that proof of loving children? I hardly think so.

We have Liberal backbenchers who are appearing in public with these attitudes and they are not simply a slip of the tongue. I quote again. A Liberal member said a lot of times people just take the easy way out to look after their kids at home. The member for St. Paul's said it is just your perception as elite white women. The member for Essex—Windsor said that this is just for stay at home parents a nostalgic notion.

This is fiction. There are people right across the country who are sacrificing to stay home with their kids. Why does the government discriminate against them?

[Families, March 4th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the comments just float to the top. Now we have proof again that the Liberal member for Vancouver Kingsway in committee last fall told stay at home parents in Calgary that they “take the easy way out”. The Liberal member for St. Paul's told stay at home women that they were just a bunch of elite white women. These are not slips of the tongue.

Is it not true that this is the real family policy of the government?

[Northeast Community Health Centre, March 4th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the Northeast Community Health Centre in Edmonton North opened on January 27, 1999. It is an example of the great things that can be done when people work together to provide better health care services for the 21st century.

This centre is unique because it provides many services in one location. These services presently include doctors for pediatric, child, adolescent and family care; nurses and other health professionals for immunization and well child clinics; preschool speech and language services; pre and post-natal care; mental health therapists; laboratory collection sites; and a dietitian, social worker and addictions counsellor. Soon a 24-hour emergency room will open as well with more specialized clinics for women and seniors.

Congratulations to the volunteers and staff who had the vision and who worked for over 15 years to plan and build this modern and innovative Northeast Community Health Centre. Once again Edmonton leads the way in providing a new generation of health care services for a new millennium.

[Taxation, March 3rd, 1999]

Yes, I surely will, Mr. Speaker. They are saying that stay at home parents and the whole tax fairness issue would reduce their incentive to work.

Why does not the Prime Minister just admit that he honestly feels single income families and stay at home parents should be punished with extra taxes? Who is going to admit it?

[Taxation, March 3rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, that is great. If that is not what he meant and it was just an oops, perhaps he could change the law to make those differences.

This was a stupid, idiotic remark yesterday from a chauvinistic minister. He cannot just explain it away.

[Taxation, March 3rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, if only it were so easy as to try to explain this. The government's real agenda is that next week it is going to the UN in New York City to argue the tax discrimination against stay at home parents is really okay. The Prime Minister's lawyers will be arguing that tax fairness for stay at home parents would reduce their incentive to work. Maybe he did give the government's position yesterday.

Is the Prime Minister really telling us that he thinks these moms and dads are lazy and that they do not perform any real work?