Candice Bergen

[Social Development, June 15th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, our government has done more than any other government to lift Canadians out of poverty. In fact, more than 1.4 million fewer Canadians are living in poverty.

That is because of our benefits, such as the universal child care benefit and the family tax cuts. These are benefits that give money directly to those parents who are living in low-income or poverty situations. We are going to expand it and increase it. The Liberals would end it.

Canadians know they can count on this government to give them more money in their pockets.

[Taxation, June 11th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, recently I met Patricia. Patricia is a mom with three children and has a home business in Vaughan. She is a young entrepreneur. She is thrilled about our universal child care benefit expansion and increase, because it allows her to be able to stay home, look after her children, and run her business at the same time.

What does our support do? It helps every parent in Canada, regardless of what kind of job they have, whether they work from home or outside the home, whether they use licensed child care or unlicensed. We will continue to provide direct support to Canadian families.

[Taxation, May 29th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for that great question and the great work that he has done for his constituents over the years.

I was pleased to be in Pickering over the last week and met with families to tell them about the expanded and increased universal child care benefit.

I met with Melanie. Melanie is a single mom with a five-year-old son, soon turning six. She was thrilled when I told her that our plan would increase and expand the universal child care benefit for her, because she counts on that support.

I also told her that the Liberal plan would be to completely end the universal child care benefit and that the NDP plan would not help her at all, because she is not using licensed day care.

Our plan helps all families with children, regardless of how they choose to look after their children. Melanie was very happy to hear that.

[Aboriginal Affairs, May 27th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the member does not understand what the program is designed to do. It is to encourage and to enable individuals to choose to build their own home and own it on reserve.

It is no surprise coming from the opposition, which voted against and does not believe that women should have their own property rights on reserve. It seems that it does not agree that aboriginal individuals should have their own homes on reserve.

We believe that they should. That is why we created this program. We always review our programs to ensure that they are meeting the goals that we set out.

[Aboriginal Affairs, May 27th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the purpose of that program is to increase private home ownership for first nations people on reserve. We want to see first nations individuals being able to have the pride, the security, and the financial stability that come with owning their own home.

We always review programs to ensure that they meet the goals required, but we think it is important that first nations individuals can own their own home on reserve. That is why we created this fund.

[Housing, May 25th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely wrong. There are no cuts to housing investments. In fact, our government has renewed housing investments, whether it is our investment in affordable housing of $1.25 billion or our homelessness partnering strategy of over $600 million across the country.

We are helping in terms of building houses. We are helping in terms of supporting those who are homeless. We are helping vulnerable Canadians by giving them benefits such as the universal child care benefit and tax cuts. These are direct benefits that reduce poverty and help those who are vulnerable.

[Taxation, May 14th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, earlier this week we learned that the Liberals did not believe that helping every single family was fair. We also heard yesterday that the NDP thought that only families that used licenced daycares were real families. These are not just gaffe by the opposition members, although we know there seems to be a lot of gaffs going on. This is actually what they believe. They believe that only a select few families deserve support in Canada.

On this side of the House, we delivered the universal child care benefit to all families. We are committed to enhancing it and increasing it. We will always give money back to Canadian families because it is their money, all of it.

[Child Care, May 13th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, that is NDP disrespect. They consider a family that is not using a regulated daycare space not a real family. It is not up to the government to decide what is a real family or what is child care. That is up to Canadian families themselves. That is up to moms and dads. Parents are the real experts.

We are going to keep taxes low for all Canadian families, who we consider to be trustworthy and worthy of the money that belongs to them. We are going to keep putting money back in their pockets and let them decide how to care for their children. We will reject the insults of the NDP to all Canadian families.

[Child Care, May 13th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian families are tired of being insulted by the NDP and being told that if they do not use regulated daycare spaces, they do not deserve support. Canadian families are tired of being told that if a parent decides to stay home, they are not really incurring a cost.

The NDP members are wrong. They are not listening to rural Canadian families. They are not listening to Canadian families doing shift work. They are not listening to families who are staying home with their children.

We are listening to all Canadian families and giving every family support, regardless of their choice, because we respect and we trust Canadian families.

[Child Care, May 13th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, there is the difference between the NDP plan and our plan. Our plan gives benefits to every family in Canada, regardless of how they decide to care for their children, whether they decide to stay at home with their children, whether they decide to use licensed day care spots, or whether they decide to use another family member. Whatever their choice is, we respect it. We believe that it deserves support. We are going to continue giving direct support to Canadian families. The NDP would create a multibillion-dollar plan that would help fewer than 10% of Canadian families. Ours helps all Canadian families.