Housing  Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleague from Laval—Les Îles for the excellent work he is doing to help families in his community with their housing needs. We believe that Canadians deserve suitable, affordable housing. In budget 2016, our government invested $2.3 billion over two years in affordable housing, which will help 200,000 families.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for giving me the opportunity to express just how honoured I have felt in recent months to participate in a consultation process that involved thousands of discussions between the Government of Canada, its partners in other governments, and the people who have been waiting for us for many years.

Pensions  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her advocacy on behalf of seniors. Our government is engaged in helping hard-working Canadians achieve a safe and dignified retirement. Earlier this year, we reached a historic agreement with nine provinces to make important improvements to the Canadian pension plan.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, following my earlier colleague's comments on the fact that we are working very hard to grow the economy and to grow the middle class, and working very hard to decrease poverty among our children and seniors, I would be curious to know why our Conservative friends have been opposing, systematically, all measures working in favour of the middle class and toward lowering poverty in Canada.

Pensions  Mr. Speaker, I am delighted that my hon. colleague has given us an opportunity to talk about how, once in power, the Canadian government quickly took action by implementing important measures to help our seniors, particularly those who are less fortunate. We increased the guaranteed income supplement, which helped 900,000 Canadian seniors.

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for giving me the opportunity to talk about very important issues concerning our seniors. In recent months, we announced two important measures that will have a significant impact on our seniors' well-being. The first was dropping the age of eligibility for old age security down to 65.

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, may I start by congratulating my colleague not only for her election, but also for her passion and the sense of pride she feels, as I and others do, in belonging to this House, the pride that is attached to two things: first, the opportunity to spend fruitful and critical time with members of the House, all of them distinguished; and second, the responsibility to move forward in advancing the interests of all Canadians.

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, may I say how proud and privileged I am to work with my parliamentary secretary every day in addressing the needs of seniors in particular. In the context of this particular debate, we have seen, over just one year, a government that has been listening to the interests and views of the vast majority of Canadians on this important matter.

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, all opinions expressed in the House are important, including those of the opposition, which I personally have the privilege and pleasure of listening to every day. Members of the House have heard from 35 Conservative Party members on this issue. That is slightly more than a third of the Conservative Party caucus.

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent question and the answer is quite simple. This is what Canadians want. They know that this measure will be good for their generation and for future generations. All the provinces affected by the Canada pension plan expansion fully agree that the Government of Canada should move forward on this.

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate and am grateful for this opportunity to remind all members of the House that we have a double responsibility. We have the responsibility of listening respectfully and critically to the diversity of views in the House. We also have an important responsibility toward Canadians in advancing the agenda of this government, a government that has signalled how important sustainable development is, how important economic development that grows the middle class is, and how important inclusive development that leaves no one behind is.

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, I have two quick responses. First, as I signalled earlier, and as my colleague a few minutes ago mentioned, some of us were not here in the last government and therefore did not see how frequent these closure procedures were used, and so I cannot speak on the history of the previous government.

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, I think we all appreciate our colleague's view. We are grateful to him for emphasizing the importance of continuing this debate. As we all know, this debate will continue in committee, at which time we will have the opportunity to hear the views of those who are not as fortunate as we are to be here in the House of Commons.

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, our colleague knows more than many of us in this House how important the work of the committee is and will be in guiding the next step of this important legislation. We have very important responsibilities. We are talking about the inclusiveness of this generation and future generations of workers in the labour market.

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, this gives me the opportunity to emphasize something we just heard. It is important that we work together in the House and respect the different views expressed here while also meeting our obligations towards Canadians, which consist of advancing programs of public and social interest.