Diane Finley

[Employment Insurance, February 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it is always difficult when people lose their jobs. That is why we are taking significant steps to help people. We are helping them keep their jobs. We are expanding the work sharing program. We are helping them retrain when they lose their jobs. We are extending the benefits, so they can take care of their families while they are looking for those new jobs. We are particularly focusing on those who have worked in a job for a very long time and need new skills, so that they can transfer into the jobs of tomorrow.

[Points of Order, February 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would like to clarify for the record that when I said that the Canada social transfer would be going up 3% this year I did mean the fiscal year of 2009-10.

[Child Care, February 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, our Prime Minister has demonstrated tremendous leadership.

Thanks to his leadership, our country is better prepared than any other country to face this global economic crisis. Thanks to his leadership, we are entering later than most countries in the G7. We expect to go shallower into it and to come out sooner and stronger.

That is leadership. The others should try it.

[Child Care, February 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it is very clear the action we have taken to help parents, to help families get the form of child care that they choose. Sometimes it is at home with mom or dad, sometimes it is with granny, sometimes it is informal daycare. We have made all of those options possible through our universal child care benefit which we delivered inside of six months to every parent with a child under the age of six. We know through our relationships with the provinces and the funding we provide them that so far in the last year they have created over 60,000 new daycare spaces.

[Seniors, February 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we have a great deal of respect for seniors and that is why we appointed a Minister of State for Seniors. We have also established a council that will identify and analyze the concerns of seniors so that we can take action to help them as we did with the supplement.

[Child Care, February 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, three years ago we took action when we launched the universal child care benefit. That was designed to allow parents the choice of where and how to have their children cared for. We believe that they deserve to have that choice.

On top of that, we are providing incentives to corporations so that they can create child care spaces on-site to help families. We will be increasing the Canada social transfer to the provinces, which includes child care funding, by 3% next year. We have already created 60,000 new child care spaces across the country.

[Child Care, February 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the facts are that we are spending three times as much money on early learning and child care as the previous Liberal government ever did.

We are increasing the Canada social transfer to the provinces by 3% and that includes significant amounts for child care to help families. In the last year alone that funding has been used to create over 60,000 new child care spaces right across this country to help families make a choice.

[Child Care, February 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the truth is that there have been no cuts to child care transfers to the provinces. As I said a few moments ago to the other member of the coalition, the transfers to the provinces through the Canada social transfer will be going up 3% this year.

[Child Care, February 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has her facts entirely wrong. There have been no cuts to child care funding. In fact, through the Canada social transfer, the funding for child care to the provinces this year will be going up 3%.

[Housing, February 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member ignores, conveniently, the fact that last September we made a commitment of almost $2 billion to build new social housing to help those and the homeless. That is a considerable investment.

In this budget, we are including money to renovate and build social housing for seniors and the disabled right across the country.

I have to point out that with that significant investment to create jobs and help the vulnerable, she is voting against it.