Candice Bergen

[The Budget, April 28th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, recently I met with Emmanuel. He prepares taxes for everyday Canadian families. He said that the best thing about his job over the last few weeks is the look on the faces of middle-class Canadians when they see their tax return because of our family tax cut and our expanded benefits.

The difference between this government and the New Democrats and the Liberals is we believe this money belongs to Canadians. The Liberals and the New Democrats think that money belongs in the government coffers and that somehow it is our revenue. No, it is Canadians' money and we believe it should be in their pockets.

[Taxation, April 27th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, all Canadians with children will benefit from our expanded universal child care benefit, but about 200,000 families in Canada need to register. There is a deadline coming up. That is this Friday.

If Canadians are wondering if they are going to receive that benefit, they can go to Canada.ca/taxsavings, or they can talk to a Conservative member of Parliament, because Conservatives want to help Canadians get their benefits, so 200,000 of them need to register by this coming Friday.

[The Budget, April 22nd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, we have balanced the budget, and we are supporting families through our enhanced universal child care benefit, our family tax cut and the new home accessibility tax credit. Overall, these measures will save the average family $6,600 a year.

As University of Windsor Professor Lydia Miljan pointed out, “every Canadian is going to see something” because the economic action plan is “helping everybody”.

Across the country, groups, experts, families and sectors are supporting this budget because it is putting money back in the pockets of everyday Canadians.

[Housing, April 22nd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, listen to what Nicholas Gazzard, the executive director of the Co-operative Housing Federation said just yesterday about our announcement: “This is very good news. The elimination of prepayment fees will make a real difference to housing co-ops” across the country.

We are going to listen to the people who are providing housing. We are going to give them the solutions they are asking for. At the same time, Canadians across the country are looking for their lives to be more affordable. We are keeping taxes low on the middle class. Opposition members want to raise taxes on middle-class Canadians.

[Housing, April 22nd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to ensuring that Canadians have access to affordable, secure housing. We reaffirmed that commitment in budget 2015. On top of that, we also are giving substantial funds to co-op and non-profit housing groups that are now able to renegotiate their mortgages with no penalty. This is something they have been asking for. They are tangible results.

We are listening to housing providers. We are not listening to the high-tax, high-spend opposition that would increase taxes even on vulnerable Canadians. We want to make their lives more affordable.

[Taxation, April 21st, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his consideration for the families in his riding.

Our government is helping children with disabilities by launching our enabling accessibility fund program to help make playgrounds more accessible for children with disabilities.

In addition to that, I was very pleased to announce at the Starbright Children's Development Centre in Kelowna that we would be funding that specific program. Families were thrilled to hear that and to hear about our expanded universal child care benefit and family tax cut.

We are cutting taxes for Canadian families with children. The Liberals and the NDP want to increase taxes, increase debt, increase burdens on Canadian families.

[Child Care, April 20th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, our government has been listening to Canadian families from every walk of life. As the member for Don Valley East just said, Canadian families have a variety of needs when it comes to child care. That includes families with older children, because older children also bear costs to their families, and it is a cost that we want to help those families with. That is why we have increased and expanded the universal child care benefit to include children between the ages of seven and 17.

We have also doubled the fitness tax credit and have introduced income splitting for families, all the while putting money back into the pockets of Canadian hard-working families.

[Taxation, April 2nd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Vancouver South for the great work and the very good question.

The PBO did report definitely that our benefits would help lower- to middle-income families the most, which is what we have been saying. He also confirmed that every Canadian family with children would benefit.

We recognize that there are no two families that are alike in Canada when it comes to their needs and the decisions they make regarding child care. We will continue to support all Canadian families. While the NDP plan would leave out 90% of Canadian families, we will support all Canadian families with real assistance.

[Housing, April 2nd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I did not realize that the member now speaks for the provincial Government of Ontario, because I can tell him that when I met and signed agreements with the minister of housing from Ontario, they were very pleased with our housing agreements. Do members know why? It is because we provide funding, it matches funding, and then it decides where the funding goes.

It is called working with the provinces. It is called making our role as the federal government have the greatest impact, but working with provinces. I would like to explain that to the member. I think he would understand it if we had a little more time to explain that simple matter to him.

[Child Care, April 2nd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the evidence shows that only about 10% of all Canadian families use licensed or regulated daycare spaces. Those are the only people their plan would help.

Our plan helps every Canadian family, because Canadian families want to use a variety of options when it comes to caring for their children. They are all incurring costs.

To suggest that Canadian families, when they decide one parent will stay at home or they will use another family member, are not incurring costs is absolutely absurd. It is wrong.

Our plan helps every Canadian family with children.