“The Prime Minister says life is more affordable now than it has been in ten years. But a woman with cancer told me she must stop her treatments and work because she cannot afford rent and food. Will the Prime Minister tell her that life is affordable?”

“Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister told the House on March 25 of this year that “Affordability is the best it has been in over a decade.” Markita might disagree. She wrote me a letter recently saying that she is on chemotherapy, but she is going to have to stop her cancer treatments so that she can go back to work because she cannot afford to pay her bills. She cannot afford her rent and her groceries. Will the Prime Minister look into the camera now and tell Markita that affordability is the best it has been for her in over a decade?”

“The government's spending and promises have not made life affordable for struggling Canadians. I want the Prime Minister to stand up and tell these people that life is more affordable now than it was ten years ago.”

“Mr. Speaker, when Conservatives hear stories of suffering Canadians, we stand up, and the Prime Minister sits down. He cannot answer to Markita, who cannot pay her bills a year and a half after he promised to make life affordable, but maybe he can answer to Robin. She measures affordability by whether she can afford the three-dollar snack that her children ask for, or whether she has to tell them that this week is rent week. All the spending and promises and programs in the world have not helped her. Will the Prime Minister stand up now, look her in the eye and tell her that affordability is the best it has been in a decade?”

“I oppose this school food program. It pays for government bureaucracy instead of feeding kids. Since it started, twice as many children have to use food banks.”

“Mr. Speaker, another program that feeds bureaucracy rather than feeding kids. That is why the number of kids relying on food banks has doubled since that program came into place— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!”

“Housing is too expensive and fewer homes are being built. I want the Prime Minister to tell struggling Canadians to their faces that life has never been more affordable.”

“Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister does not want to answer to Robin or Markita, maybe he will answer to Mike, who is working as a small businessman and a firefighter, on top of his wife’s job. They had to pay $879,000 for a home. They wrote to say they are barely keeping their heads above water as homebuilding declines and housing costs become more out of reach for Canadians. Will the Prime Minister look Mike in the eye and make his ridiculous claim that affordability has never been better in the last decade?”

“Government policies made food too expensive, and many children have to use food banks. One woman told me she only has four dollars left before her next paycheque. I want the Prime Minister to explain how she will pay her bills.”

“Mr. Speaker, if only the government did not inflate food costs and deprive kids of the ability to eat, if only a record number of kids were not lined up at food banks, maybe Liberal promises and bureaucracy would mean something. I think of Jennifer. Jennifer says she has to make up recipes at the end of the month because she is living on her four final dollars to get through to her final paycheque. The Prime Minister is out of touch and Jennifer is out of money. Instead of sitting there and doing nothing, will he stand up and tell Jennifer how she is going to pay the bills?”