Finance committee  Again, when we talk about Canadians and middle-class Canadians, we know that, depending on where they live or depending on their realities, they'll have different incomes across the country. I would say that Canadians are focused on wanting good, well-paying jobs, and also they want to have the income necessary to pay the costs of living, to put money aside for retirement and also to pay for a good education for their kids.

Finance committee  The first thing we did was cut taxes for the middle class. We also initiated the Canada child benefit, which gave middle-class Canadians access to more money in their pockets and that helped us lift over 900,000 Canadians out of poverty, including 300,000 children.

Finance committee  If we're trying to build a country where we're supportive of our young and up-and-coming middle-class Canadians, we should be ensuring that the policies we create encourage ownership by them while potentially discouraging other forms of ownership.

Finance committee  I think the societal concern we've had with the test since it was introduced is that while it seems to achieve the intended fiscal policy response in trying to curb overall levels of indebtedness, by creating a bit of a pause in housing market values because of a roughly 20% reduction in first-time buyers' borrowing power, those homes have effectively been on sale for the well-capitalized and the investment classes. The would-be owner-occupiers, the young, middle-class Canadian families trying to build homes for their growing families find them really unattainable.

Finance committee  While we don't believe this will be as supportive a change as the reintroduction of the insured 30-year amortization, it will increase the number of would-be first-time buyers, would-be owner-occupiers and generally young and aspiring middle class Canadians benefiting from the program. It would also place the limits more in line with commentary from the IMF that loans greater than a 450% loan-to-income ratio present the greatest risk.

Finance committee  AHAM has been a strong advocate for advancements in energy efficiency standards, but making Energy Star mandatory would have negative consequences for middle-class Canadians. Thank you.

Canada-United States-Mexico Implementation Act  It means protecting a $53.8-billion industry, representing almost 650,000 quality jobs for middle-class Canadians, and includes 75,000 jobs in Quebec alone. We stood firm to protect the cultural exemption and our economic interests during the renegotiations of the new NAFTA.

Taxation  As our first order of business, we are lowering taxes for middle-class families and people working hard to join them, which means more money that can be used to do things like buy healthy food and send kids to camp. This is just the next step in our plan to make life more affordable for middle-class Canadians.

Government Programs  Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to answer this very important question. Investing in middle-class Canadians, investing in further economic growth and investing in our infrastructure across Canada has been a key part of our plan since 2015. We look forward to having good conversations with all people in this government, including the Auditor General, to make sure our investments are as effective as possible.

Finance  Speaker, first of all, we have been very clear since day one, since the very first day in office, that we want to make investments in Canadians. We want to make investments in middle-class Canadians. We want to make investments in infrastructure. We know that this can advance our economy. It can also help Canadians. With respect to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, what we have said is that we want to support multilateral development banks.

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  When we are talking about supporting small towns, small businesses and regular hard-working, middle-class Canadians, this is why the carbon tax is a very ineffective policy.

The Economy  We know that there is still a lot to do, and we will continue to work to make life more affordable and to create good, better-paying jobs for middle-class Canadians.

Supplementary Estimates (A), 2019-20  Chairman, this is a wonderful question, a wonderful opportunity to speak about the importance of helping the middle class, and especially younger middle-class Canadians, access their first-time home. We were so pleased in September 2019 to introduce the first-ever first-time home buyer initiative in an incentive that gives younger middle-class Canadians the ability to buy their first-time home, to invest in their families, to invest in their children and their communities and their workplace, and therefore to grow the economy in a manner that is so helpful, both socially and economically.

Supplementary Estimates (A), 2019-20  Chair, it is a perfect opportunity to remind members that the government did exactly the same thing in 2015. The first thing we did was reduce taxes for middle-class Canadians, which helped reduce the tax burden on nine million Canadians. Again this year, with the promises we made in the campaign, we are able to reduce taxes for middle-class Canadians and those aspiring to be members of the middle class, some 20 million Canadians.

Ethics  Since 2015, we have seen over one million jobs created and that is because we are building partnerships with the private sector to bring in foreign direct investment. That is why we are also addressing the concerns of middle-class Canadians by investing in measures like the Canada child benefit. It has helped lift 300,000 kids out of poverty and overall we have seen a reduction and 900,000 individuals have lifted themselves out of poverty.