Canada Pension Plan Investment Board  That is an important message for Canadians, and it is a very important message for the leader of the Liberal Party, who wants to raise taxes on hardworking middle-class Canadians.

Business of Supply  What kind of flexibility do they have to deal with the challenges facing low income and middle class Canadians? They have taken away the flexibility our Liberal government gave them in 2006 when they formed government.

Business of Supply  As members also well know, the PRD, the major opposition party in Mexico, is also saying the same thing, so what we have is increasingly, progressive forces in all three countries saying it has not worked. What has happened over the last 20 years is that middle class Canadians essentially have lost about $1,000 in real terms out of their pockets. They are actually earning less now, about a week's wages, than they were back in 1989. For lower middle class Canadians, they have actually lost even more, probably about $1,200 because they have lost on average two weeks of income for each and every year since 1989, and for the poorest Canadians, as my colleague from Sault Ste.

Business of Supply  New Democrats have long proposed measures to deal with the growing prosperity gap, the gap between the rich and poor, the difficulty working middle class Canadians have making ends meet and the unconscionable poverty in a wealthy country like Canada. We have signed onto the make poverty history campaign. We initiated the child poverty pledge in 1989.

Automotive Industry  I would like this member to stand in this place and tell us what taxes the Liberal Party will raise, when will it raise them and which middle-class Canadians will be targeted for special punishment from this new Liberal tax grab?

Business of Supply  When families are reeling, wondering if they can pay their rent or mortgage and feed their children, we must take every measure possible to make sure that working and middle class Canadian families have every single protection that is possible from their government. It is the duty and the role of government to make sure that its citizens are not being taken advantage of by companies that simply have no conscience.

Finance  When will the government learn from its mistakes and take action now to help stop the gouging of middle-class Canadians by credit card companies?

The Budget  It is a plan built on unprecedented consultation, a plan built on pragmatic and practical approaches, and a plan that responds to the needs of honest, middle-class Canadians, hard-working Canadians who play by the rules, just like the good people of Brant.

The Budget  This is a plan of hope. There is hope for the unemployed, the manufacturing sectors, middle class Canadians, families, seniors and businesses. In fact, all Canadians can find hope in the fact that their government is listening to them and acting for them to secure jobs, combat uncertainty and boost the Canadian economy.

The Economy  We would like to know what the difference is, in the Prime Minister's mind, between a technical recession and a regular recession, and, in particular, whether that makes any difference to the hard-working families and middle-class Canadians who are trying to get by in the real economy. What is the difference?

International Trade committee  There's no clearer manifestation of failure on economic and trade policy than the fact that the poorest Canadians have actually lost a month's income in real terms, that working-class Canadians and middle-class Canadians have each lost, on average, about two weeks of salary in real terms. Even upper middle-class Canadian have had absolutely no progress on the economic front. Those who have profited from the Canada-U.S.

Budget Implementation Act, 2008  However, it becomes much more sad and impressive when we look at what the income impacts have been as we move down the income ladder. Middle class Canadian families earning between $40,000 and $60,000 a year, which is one-fifth or 20% of the Canadian population, have lost a week of real income for each year since 1989. It is like they are working harder than ever because the average Canadian family is working 200 hours more now than they were then.

Business of Supply  In the words of the Liberal member for Halton: [Debt reduction] is exactly what a majority of middle class Canadians and working families want. It's what Tories are good at...often called upon to save the country's finances after long bouts of...Liberal spending. Furthermore, we believe that when the debt load falls, Canadian taxpayers, not government coffers in Ottawa, should benefit.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  She is speaking out about and lobbying for a drug prevention program and also a treatment program within Canada. Everywhere she goes she hears about thousands of middle class Canadian families who have been told that there is just not enough funding to support drug treatment programs, yet somehow the Conservative government seems to have a lot of money to put people in jail.

Court Challenges Program  The termination of this program, that was after all not so expensive at only $5.6 million a year, has meant that even middle class Canadians cannot turn to the courts anymore. Yet, there are still a good number of battles to fight, and rights to win. The court challenges program is still needed. Between April and September of 2006, 61 funding applications were submitted.