Business of Supply  Those trajectories are largely behind the softening in our measure of employment quality over the past two decades.” Faced with stagnating incomes, an increasing cost of living and mounting debt, middle-class Canadian families are struggling to make ends meet. Today, there are 159,000 fewer jobs for young people than before the recession. The Conservatives' action plan consists of income splitting and a $2 billion tax break that will mostly benefit the richest of Canadians while 85% of Canadian households will not see a cent.

Business of Supply  Speaker, I would like the minister to explain to the House and to Canadians why his government continues to give tens of billions of dollars to large corporations when we all know that jobs are mainly created by SMEs. Can he briefly explain this strategy? It is driving middle-class Canadians further into debt, when the government should be proposing other options, something that it has not done yet.

Business of Supply  The Parliamentary Budget Officer has said that our tax cuts have helped all Canadians, particularly middle-class Canadians and Canadians living below the poverty line. Even proportionately, middle-class families and people living in poverty are the ones who have benefited from our tax cuts. Lowering taxes will give the average family approximately $3,400.

Business of Supply  That term “middle class” is kind of a funny term to me because, as New Democrats, we have always talked about the working class or people who have been left out, but most Canadians see themselves as either being in or aspiring to be part of the middle class. Therefore, when we talk about middle-class Canadians, we are talking about the bulk of Canadians who see themselves as, hopefully, participating in the economy, having an opportunity for some income security and hopefully retirement security, being able to educate their children, and giving them a good start in life.

Business of Supply  Speaker, the hon. member again is demonstrating that the Conservatives are totally out of touch with the challenges faced by middle-class Canadian families, who are struggling. He does not seem to accept the fact that we have 160,000 fewer jobs for young Canadians than before the downturn. He does not understand or get the reality that while we may have 1.2 million new jobs, the labour market of people who are eligible to work has grown by 2 million.

Business of Supply  That is why, with today's motion, New Democrats are suggesting a plan that would actually help working and middle-class Canadians. I would like to invite the finance minister or the Minister of Employment and Social Development to Surrey-Newton, where I am from, and have them tell the young people there, who are desperate to get decent-paying jobs and cannot, about income splitting.

The Environment  The revenue generated from these payments will be paid directly to consumers on an equal per capita basis. Lower-income and middle-class Canadians will make money on carbon fee and dividend. Carbon dividends will use the marketplace to simultaneously tackle both climate change and income gaps. The Conservatives say that they believe in the marketplace.

Employment  Speaker, last week's CIBC report shows that the Canadian job quality index is at its lowest point on record. It confirms what middle-class Canadians already know: that more jobs now provide lower pay and fewer benefits. The Conservatives are so out of touch that they boast about their jobs record. Does the Conservative government understand the findings of the CIBC report?

Taxation  Speaker, it should come as no surprise that our Conservative government is the only one that stands up for middle-class Canadian families. Through our intensive low-tax plan, our government has managed to help 100% of families receive the benefits they need so they can put their hard-earned money toward their own priorities.

Taxation  Both the Liberals and the NDP are against putting money back into the pockets of hard-working families. In fact, the Liberals will reverse our tax cuts and will impose more taxes on our middle-class Canadian families. It is the typical high-tax, high-debt Liberal agenda. On this side of the House, we will not hike taxes like the Liberals and NDP will. Rather, we are proud to ensure that moms and dads have the final say in where their money is going.

Telecommunications  Mr. Speaker, now that Telus has decided to implement usage-based billing, middle-class Canadians, who are already paying some of the highest Internet rates in the world, will now have to pay even more. This is something the Conservatives used to rail against. Now it is common practice across the sector.

The Economy  Speaker, the same Minister of Finance who has shown no action when it comes to introducing a February budget is now seeking millions of dollars more in tax dollars for new action plan ads. Economic growth has flatlined. Middle-class Canadian families are struggling. Canadians need more action and fewer action plan ads. Why is the minister spending his time writing ads and not writing a February budget?

Taxation  At the federal level, in addition to the Liberal carbon tax to raise the cost of everything, it has been exposed that the federal Liberal leader will reverse our tax cuts that help Canadians. Perhaps only someone with a trust fund could understand how middle-class Canadians could afford these higher taxes and higher costs on everything. We reject the high tax and high debt Liberal plan. Our government stands with hard-working New Brunswickers and Canadians who want to keep taxes low.

Taxation  However, both the Liberals and the NDP are against putting back money into the pockets of hard-working families. In fact, the Liberals would reverse our tax cuts and impose more taxes on middle-class Canadian families. On this side of the House, we will not hike taxes like the Liberals and NDP will. On the contrary, we are proud to ensure that mom and dad have the final say in where their money goes.

Taxation  Speaker, the Conservatives are letting tax cheats of the hook and are doing nothing to help middle-class Canadians. The media report that a single bank, the HSBC, has helped as many as 1,800 Canadians avoid paying their taxes. However, while the Swiss and American authorities are going after HSBC for money laundering and fraud, the current Conservative government does nothing but make excuses.