Statistics Act  Mr. Speaker, I had the privilege in my earlier life to see how committed the earlier chief statistician was to collecting appropriate information and making that information serve the interests of Canadians. We all regret what took place in the past. We look forward to working with future chief statisticians in the context of this new law to make sure that Statistics Canada, in the manner that was just mentioned, makes its work even more supportive of growing our society, growing our economy, and making our democratic system as valuable as it can be to all Canadians.

Statistics Act  Mr. Speaker, again, I thank my colleagues, especially my colleague from Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, for the question. Obviously this relates to the previous question about the confidentiality and security of the information produced and used by the government, particularly by Statistics Canada.

Statistics Act  Mr. Speaker, I will build on what my colleague just said, by reiterating that in my former life, I had the privilege on many occasions to hear high praise for Statistics Canada from international experts and national statistics agencies around the world. We can be proud of Statistics Canada, not just for what it does in Canada, but also for its reputation beyond our borders.

Statistics Act  Mr. Speaker, this is an important question. As we all know, in an open and transparent society and democracy, particularly an open and transparent agency as is the case of Statistics Canada, there are serious rules to follow to protect the privacy of families and Canadians. All appropriate rules will be followed by Statistics Canada to protect the integrity of such information.

Statistics Act  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-36, an act to amend the Statistics Act. First, I would like to thank my hon. colleague, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, for working so hard on drafting this very important bill. The main objective of this bill is to strengthen the independence of Statistics Canada.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the member for Alfred-Pellan on his excellent question and on the important work he is doing on behalf of his constituents. Our government is proud to have signed an agreement allocating nearly $300 million more for affordable housing in Quebec.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for this opportunity to repeat that middle class families are our top priority. We have avoided sending cheques to families of millionaires, so we can send them to nine families out of ten, which means the families of six million children, with an average benefit of $600 per month, non-taxable.

Social Development  Mr. Speaker, with due respect, I would encourage my colleague to encourage her colleagues to pay a bit more attention to the importance of reducing poverty in Canada, perhaps signalling the importance to their constituents of the Canada child benefit, which is going to reduce the rate of child poverty from 11.2% to 6.7%, the lowest ever level of child poverty seen in our country.

Poverty  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for allowing me to acknowledge the NDP's support for the work we have been doing in recent months with the provinces, territories, indigenous peoples, and municipalities in order to develop, for the first time in history, a national poverty reduction strategy and to ensure that this strategy supports the efforts of other governments and continues to lift hundreds of thousands of families out of poverty.

Child Care  Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to take advantage of this important question to signal that indeed we put into place in March a historic Canada child benefit that would lift the families of 500,000 Canadians out of poverty. We have also signalled that over the next few months we will put into place a $500 million package to support the early learning and child care needs of our children and families.

Child Care  Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to my colleague for giving me this opportunity to remind the House how important it is to support families and children, including those of the middle class. That is what we did in budget 2016, because we know how important it is for the Government of Canada to recommit to supporting our families' learning and child care needs.

Social Development  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for giving me an opportunity to remind the House how important it is to invest in middle-class families and make sure that nobody falls through the cracks. One way we are doing that is through the Canada child benefit. As our colleague said, that money is going a long way toward making real change for the families of nine million Canadians across the country and ensuring that benefits and services are meeting people's needs and expectations.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity my colleague has generously given me to remind the House just how much of a priority the well-being of seniors is to our government. As the member knows, in March, we announced a substantial $1,000 increase in the guaranteed income supplement to lift 13,000 seniors out of poverty.

Seniors  Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity stand in this House to remind all members how important the welfare and well-being of seniors has been to this government in the last year. We have increased the guaranteed income supplement by almost $1,000, taking 13,000 seniors out of poverty.

Quebec Bridge  Mr. Speaker, I am glad that my colleague is giving me the opportunity to talk about how much the situation in the Quebec City region has changed compared to what we saw over the past 10 years. People are talking to one another, they are working together, and sharing information that is essential for collaboration and important to everyone.