Candice Bergen

[Employment Insurance, November 20th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the changes that we have made to EI have not at all impacted the way people can qualify for EI.

However, what we have done is create over 1.2 million net new jobs. The unemployment rate is at the lowest since 2008. In terms of poverty, we believe the fundamental best answer for poverty is a good job, and that is why we are improving skills and creating jobs.

In addition to that, we are very proud of expanding and increasing the universal child care benefit. That $100 cheque that parents get for every child increased to $160 and, in addition, there is another $60 for their kids over six years old.

[Child Care, November 20th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I think we just saw in Whitby—Oshawa what Canadians think of the NDP's universal child care plan.

Here's the issue. It is not a universal child care plan because their plan does not help a mom who is working part time and has private daycare or a grandmother helping to look after her child. Their plan only helps less than 10% of Canadian families. It does nothing for rural Canadians.

Our plan is simple. It means we trust parents. We give them the funds. It helps them make decisions that are best for their families in terms of their career choices, their work, and their child care.

[Child Care, November 20th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, here is what the NDP plan would do. It would cost $5 million, it would help less than 10% of Canadian families, it would do nothing for rural Canadian families, it would do nothing for families that need evening child care, it would do nothing for those families in which one family member decides to stay at home. We know the NDP will take away the universal child care benefit, given the chance. We are keeping it, we are increasing it, we are expanding it to include older children, and we are including the family tax credit.

Again, the difference between us and them is we want money in families' pockets; they want it in big bureaucracies that do nothing to help Canadian families.

[Child Care, November 20th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I want the New Democrats to know this, and we have said this before: We have increased transfer payments to the provinces. The provinces, since we have come into government, have created 216,000 daycare spaces.

Here is the difference between us and them. We believe parents need more than just nine-to-five, full-time-work daycare spaces. Parents need flexibility for those who work part-time or when one parent decides to stay home. That is why our plan gives funds directly to parents—the universal childcare benefit, the expansion, the increase—because we trust them to make the decisions they need for their daycare.

[Poverty, November 20th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it is too bad the New Democrats do not recognize the great work Canadians have done and that this government has done lifting over 225,000 children out of poverty.

We have the lowest level of poverty in our history. It is because we are doing things like cutting the GST by two points. We have introduced the universal childcare benefit, which will give families over $1,900 in benefits, which is direct money in their pockets. A single mom with two kids under the age of six will be receiving $3,800 in cash benefits.

The NDP would take that away and put it in the hands of the bureaucracy.

[Poverty, November 20th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, what is a Canadian value is not just talking but acting. That is what this government does. We have lifted over 225,000 children out of poverty since coming into government. UNICEF Canada said it is because of the measures we have introduced to help families directly, things like the universal childcare benefit, which we are increasing and expanding, and like our family tax cut.

Every single family in Canada with children will receive a benefit from these measures. That helps us lift Canadian families out of poverty. It helps make life more affordable for Canadian families.

[Housing, November 20th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, in regard to the housing agreements, they are coming to an end, because the mortgages are paid off. Canadians understand that when mortgages are paid off, they do not keep paying the bank. What we have done is provide other supports, whether it is co-op housing or other flexibility within the investment in affordable housing.

Here is another novel idea for the opposition members. For Canadians who are vulnerable, for Canadians who want to improve their housing situation, we are helping them by giving them increased benefits, like the universal childcare benefit, like the family tax cut, and like increasing their skills and abilities so they can afford housing in the regions where they live.

[Housing, November 20th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we have been listening. We have been meeting. We have, in fact, been signing agreements across the country with provinces to address the housing needs.

I met with representatives from FCM yesterday. Each one of the city representatives acknowledged that their cities have different challenges. Each is unique when it comes to housing. That is why we have invested over $1.25 billion in affordable housing, giving the provinces the jurisdiction to spend that funding where they believe it is necessary, working together with the cities and municipalities to address the issue of housing.

[Housing, November 19th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we have been working together with the provinces and the municipalities. We have made unprecedented investments in housing. In fact, our investments have helped over one million families and individuals with affordable housing.

As well, we have our homelessness partnering strategy, with the focus on Housing First, so we can help people who are chronically and episodically homeless, actually solving the problem, working together with our partners in cities, municipalities, and the provinces.

[Taxation, November 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it actually was the Liberal member for St. Paul's who said mothers who stay at home are not really doing real work. I think that is an incredibly disrespectful thing.

Here is what we value. We value every single parent in every single family and respect their choices. Whether it is a single mom or a single dad, whether it is a two-income family with both working outside the home, or a family that decides one will work outside the home and the other will stay and work at home, we respect their choices. We will continue to put money behind that respect in the universal child care benefit.