Warren Steinley

“Madam Speaker, the hon. member for Regina—Lewvan and I have had lots of spirited debates in this House before, and I appreciate his question. I do have a family. I have three daughters and a wife. I am very proud of them and very happy to support them. I do a lot of the grocery shopping in my family and, in fact, a lot of the cooking, which I enjoy very much. The member opposite should be able to recognize the way household budgets work. People might save money on child care, save money on dental care, get a Canada child benefit cheque, get the groceries and essentials benefit or benefit from the income tax cut given to 22 million Canadians. There are a number of other programs, measures and benefits that our government has put in place. By my estimate, for the average family of four in my riding of Whitby, and I am sure it is the same in the member opposite’s riding, there is approximately $30,000 a year of savings to the household budget. That is over a course of a year, so divide that by 12 months. It is a significant amount. My family is a good example, but I think for many families across my riding, there are significant savings. That does not directly address the cost of groceries, which I acknowledge are a challenge for families, but with those costs decreasing, families on fixed incomes are able to afford the essentials and the things they need. Let us be honest. The groceries and essentials benefit is specifically designed to increase the GST rebate in order to address the very issue the member opposite is pointing to. The national school food program is another example of how we are saving families money. It is essentially for children from lower-income families. In fact, it has universal access, and so any family whose kid is going to school and may not have the nutritional support they need from their household is able to access school lunches or breakfast programs all across the country. That is 400,000 more kids who are able to eat at school and get the sustenance they need to learn, grow and develop. The member opposite voted against many of these measures. I am not sure how he can stand up and lecture us about the price of groceries when in fact he voted against the very supports we put in place as a government that affect household budgets. Remember, we cut tax on income, housing and fuel. We cut tax on new business investment, making Canada the most tax-competitive advanced economy in the entire world, by the way. That is the productivity mega deduction. It is very hard for me to stand here and listen to the member opposite’s question. I get that he wants to ask his question, but I think he should acknowledge the facts. With household budgets, when people can save money in one or two other places, it better enables them to afford the monthly costs of groceries and essentials.”