Justin Trudeau

[Pensions, November 1st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, just a week ago, we announced that we were going to be increasing the working income tax benefit by about $750 million in 2019. That is going to put more money in the pockets of hard-working Canadians and make a huge impact in the economic growth and opportunities that hard-working Canadians have.

We are always looking for ways to continue to help workers and their families and prepare them for their retirement. That is what we are going to continue to do. This government is focused on the middle class and those working hard to join it.

[Pensions, November 1st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of what we have accomplished for our workers and pensioners. To support our workers, we lowered taxes for the middle class and raised them for the wealthiest 1%. We are currently cutting taxes for small businesses so that they can hire more workers.

We are also working to support our pensioners. We increased the guaranteed income supplement for our most vulnerable seniors by close to $1,000 a year and we enhanced the Canada pension plan, because we know that providing pensions to present generations is crucial. That is what we will continue to do.

[Ethics, November 1st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite wants to talk about numbers, and I know he is wondering just how many young people in Carleton have been receiving the Canada child benefit. I can tell him that 16,200 kids in his riding have been receiving an average of $430 per family a month to help with the high cost of raising families, of buying new clothes, and after-school activities. These are the things that are making a difference for families in his riding, that we have increased because, unlike the former government, we do not—

[Ethics, November 1st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the members opposite have had a difficult time with this concept. For 10 years, the member opposite was part of the most secretive, opaque, untrusting, and untrustworthy government Canada has ever seen. The level of openness and transparency we have shown, the level of respect we have offered the commissioners of parliament, the Elections Canada commissioner, and justices of the Supreme Court that the previous government never showed is partly why Canadians have trusted us to deliver the kind of growth that 10 years of Conservatives never could.

[Ethics, November 1st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I know that those parents in Milton, like other parents across the country, will be pleased to know that there is an Ethics Commissioner who takes her job seriously and ensures that the rules are followed, just as they are being followed by all of us in this House. Those parents also know that since the government changed, since our government has been in place, they have been receiving larger benefit cheques every month tax free, because the Conservatives chose to send those child benefit cheques to millionaire families and we send them to the people who actually need them. The economic growth we have seen in this country—

[Ethics, November 1st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is right: this House should not be about any individual one of us, but about the impact we have on Canadians. Let me talk about Canadians. Let me talk about young people in Milton. Let me talk about the 25,630 children in Milton who are receiving an average of $520 per family because of the Canada child benefit. We gave them that benefit because, unlike the Conservatives, we believe in helping those who need it.

[Ethics, November 1st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, once again, we understand that the opposition has to ask difficult questions and even level baseless accusations to do its job and keep the government on its toes. That is important. That is how our democratic system works. However, we must also remember that we have commissioners like the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner to ensure that everyone is following the rules and that respect for our institutions and their rules transcends the kind of partisanship we are seeing from the opposition. We will continue to demonstrate our faith in the commissioner and the fact that Canadians deserve to have faith in us.

[Ethics, November 1st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, as I already said many times, the Minister of Finance has worked with the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner to ensure that he is always in full compliance; he has even gone beyond what the commissioner originally asked of him.

If the member opposite would like to talk numbers, I have numbers for him. Fully 20,060 children in Richmond—Arthabaska received on average $580 per family thanks to the Canada child benefit. That is what the finance minister brought in. We are making a difference for them and for everyone.

[Ethics, November 1st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, we will continue to take very seriously the trust that Canadians placed in us by remaining open, transparent, and accountable to the opposition and to Canadians.

[Ethics, November 1st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, we in the Liberal Party and this government have always believed that sunshine is the best disinfectant. That is why we have moved forward on openness and transparency in ways that, yes, perhaps open us to a few more attacks from the members opposite, but ultimately create the confidence that Canadians must have in their democratic institutions—