“The Prime Minister has worked to make life more affordable since the last election. He has been in office for about 500 days, while the Conservative leader has been in Parliament for over 8,000 days. The Prime Minister has gotten more done in his short time. I want to know why the Conservative leader keeps voting against our help for families.”

“Madam Speaker, this motion is truly amazing, and I will have a chance to talk about it shortly. The leader of the official opposition needs a reality check. The affordability issue is something the Prime Minister has been commenting on, and delivering on for Canadians since the last federal election. The Prime Minister was first elected as a member of Parliament just over 500 days ago. Let us contrast that to the 8,000-plus days that the leader of the Conservative Party has been in the House. I have no problem at all doing a comparison between the things that this Prime Minister has done in 500 days and what the Leader of the Opposition has done in over 8,000 days. Why does the leader of the Conservative Party continue to oppose Liberal Party initiatives on the issue of affordability?”

“The Conservatives say they care about making life more affordable. I want the member to explain why they vote against our plans to help people with costs.”

“Madam Speaker, as we talk throughout the day about what has taken place since Canadians elected a new prime minister less than 18 months ago, it is important that we look at what the Conservative Party has done as an opposition, at the degree to which it continues to oppose affordability measures that we bring forward and to stand in the way of building a stronger and healthier Canada. Can the member clearly indicate why the Conservative Party votes against affordability measures while its members talk about the need for affordability measures?”

“I do not support this Conservative motion. Our government has cut taxes, ended the carbon tax, helped first-time homebuyers, and created school food and dental programs. Conservatives complain about high costs, but they vote against all of these things. We are also building the economy by breaking down trade barriers between provinces and working with Indigenous leaders.”

“Madam Speaker, I have quite a bit to say about the motion that the opposition has brought forward. I kind of wish I had more time on it, quite frankly, because there is so much there. We as a government are very much listening to what Canadians are saying. We are listening and taking action. That is a very important thing to say at the outset, because virtually from day one, we have been bringing forward programs to deal with the affordability issue in Canada. Canada is not alone in dealing with affordability issues. As a government, led by the Prime Minister, we are addressing the issue head-on. I am going to list things we are doing to accommodate that. Before I get into that, though, I will provide a bit of commentary. I have been around Parliament Hill for a number of years now, much like the leader of the Conservative Party, and never before have I seen this. I do not know how best to describe it. Is it laziness? I do not know what drove the Conservative Party to bring forward this opposition motion. The Green Party leader just indirectly made light of it, but it is true. There really is zero merit to this opposition motion. I like to think that the members of the opposition could be a bit more creative. Conservatives talk about how long the Liberals have been in government. Let me tell them how long it has been since the Prime Minister was elected on April 28, 2025. That is 500 days. Contrast that to the over 5,000 days that the Leader of the Opposition has been around. If Conservatives want to do a comparison, I will do that. I will provide a detailed comparison so the people following this debate will better understand the degree of silliness and lazy opposition we see across the way and will see that we on the government benches are not only listening to what our constituents are saying but bringing their ideas and thoughts to the House of Commons, and actually acting on issues such as affordability. I challenge the leader of the Conservative Party on why the Conservatives continue to vote against Liberal initiatives dealing with affordability while at the same time being critical of the government for not taking actions on affordability. The Conservative Party does not make any sense. It really and truly does not. We can stop and think about how Conservatives behave inside the chamber and their voting patterns. On the one hand, they say they are concerned about affordability and are listening to Canadians. Let me give a good, tangible example. I have raised this one in the past. The Prime Minister and the government made a commitment to the children of Canada, 400,000 children. We are now making the national school nutrition program permanent. That program will provide food for the tummies of 400,000 children across the country. What kind of response have we gotten from the Conservative Party? We have had Conservatives call it a garbage program. We have had them say it is a non-existent program and that children are not being fed, but I can tell the House that it is having a real, tangible impact in every member’s constituency. As I have said before, this is not a new issue. It has been an issue since I was first elected to the Manitoba legislature, back in 1988. We have a Prime Minister who has seen the merit of having this and bringing it in as part of affordability, ensuring that children are able to learn with some nutritious food as a part of their diet. There were many situations, even back in the eighties and nineties, when children were going to school on an empty stomach. We are doing two things at the same time, and the Conservatives voted against them. Let us look at another initiative to give a break and deal with affordability. There is the program for first-time homebuyers, which got rid of the GST. That is a substantial saving for those individuals looking at purchasing a home for the first time. It does two things. One is make it more affordable. The other is help build a stronger economy through our construction industry. That means more Canadian lumber and Canadian steel. It means having more engagement with our skilled labour and unionized workers. I could talk about the dental program and how many seniors on fixed incomes have benefited from that particular program. These are seniors living in every member’s riding across the country. That helps in terms of disposable income. It makes life more affordable. As with the school program, the Conservatives continue to vote against programs such as that. We have the groceries and essentials benefit. It is a program that puts a substantial increase of money into the pockets of individuals who are at the middle and lower-end income levels, more so than the multi-millionaires in our society, to deal with the affordability issue. Members of the Conservative Party talk about tax breaks. This Prime Minister and this government have delivered on tax breaks. The very first action taken by our Prime Minister was getting rid of the carbon tax. That was the first action by this Prime Minister under a new government following the election results in April last year. If we fast-forward to the spring economic update, there was the excise tax relief on gasoline. There is a great deal of benefit, and it is not only on the issue of affordability. Canadians have recognized that one of the ways we can support the Canadian economy is by looking and travelling around Canada. Indirectly, it not only helps with the affordability issue but also encourages and promotes interprovincial and provincial travel for vacations and things of that nature. There are a number of initiatives. I did not mention the income tax break from 15% to 14%, but now I will. There are 22 million Canadians who benefited from that tax break. Those are initiatives that deal with just affordability, and they are not all of the initiatives, but all of them have taken place since we got a new Prime Minister and a new government for the people of Canada. A member opposite asked if I just got here. I guess I have a lot of similarities with the leader of the Conservative Party. Both the leader of the Conservative Party and I have been around for a long time. That is why I do not have a problem doing a comparison between the leader of the Conservative Party and the Prime Minister of Canada, who has been around for less than a year and a half. I have no problem at all doing that. I will now go on to the second stage. I just talked about the issue of affordability. Do members want to talk about what has taken place? With the issue of affordability, we have the short term and the long term. The long term might be, for example, pharmacare or the dental program, or the national food program being made permanent by this Prime Minister. There is a whole new area with regard to what we are doing to build an economy that works for all Canadians. Again, we have a Prime Minister and a government focused on building a stronger, healthier Canadian economy. Unlike what the Conservative leader says, it is not just words. Just as I illustrated regarding affordability, there are tangible actions putting money into the pockets of Canadians and increasing their disposable income. There are also tangible actions by this government and this Prime Minister that are building a stronger, healthier Canadian economy and society. This is not by choice. All we have to do is look at the last federal election. If the Conservatives were listening to their constituents, they would have found out what I and every member of the Liberal caucus found out, which is that they are concerned about Donald Trump, tariffs and trade. These are things we should all be concerned about. At the very least, I can assure those who are listening that the government has been focused on them from day one. I ask members to tell me the last time we saw a prime minister work as collaboratively with the provinces and indigenous leaders collectively, as well as other stakeholders, as we have seen this Prime Minister work over the last 18 months. I have been around, as I said, since 1988, starting in the Manitoba legislature, and there has not been a prime minister who has worked as collaboratively with stakeholders in my time as a parliamentarian. The results are there, and we continue to move forward. We have been talking about Bill C-39. There has been a great deal of debate on Bill C-39. This bill is a very important aspect of the government’s long-term and short-term agenda, because we made a commitment to Canadians that we were going to not only deal with the issue of affordability but build Canada for the future. We are talking about jobs for today and jobs for tomorrow to continue to make Canada the best country in the world to call home. What have we done? We can take a look at some of the Prime Minister’s very first actions. Even before he took his seat in the House physically, he was meeting and talking with premiers and trying to build that sense of collaboration that is necessary to be able to expand trade opportunities beyond the Canada-U.S.A. border. Let us take a look at the mandate letters. Ministers in our front benches and others, even members of the Liberal caucus in the backbenches, are all on the same page. That page is to look at ways we can expand and grow Canada’s economy and at the same time protect our environment, making sure that we are doing it in the right way, protecting indigenous rights and working collaboratively. The results are there. They are tangible We took down the federal barriers. There should be one Canadian economy. The federal barriers have been taken down to facilitate more trade between our provinces and territories. Even today, we continue to work with and encourage the provinces to do likewise and take down those interprovincial trade barriers that they need to. That has been a very high priority for this Prime Minister. We then passed Bill C-5 to allow major projects to get up and running. If we listen to the Conservatives and the silliness that comes over from them, they say we have not built any major projects, but they built 20,000 projects. What a bunch of garbage. Let us think about it. They say they built 20,000 projects. How many of them were over $1 billion? What sort of collaboration took place between the provinces, indigenous people and stakeholders to develop major projects over $1 billion? When you talk about 20,000 projects, I am working on projects. I want the Seven Oaks General Hospital—”

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“Our government is building a strong economy. We are backing major projects across the country worth nearly half a trillion dollars, attracting huge foreign investments, and signing new trade deals. At the same time, I am pushing for federal and provincial support to expand our local community centre and restore emergency hospital services in my riding. We should vote against this motion.”

“Madam Speaker, that was a rookie mistake. I talk about issues in my own riding. I would like the Tyndall Park Community Centre to get an expansion. I would like to see the Seven Oaks General Hospital get its emergency services restored. I am going to fight to ensure that it does. I am convinced that I will get the federal government to step up, and I want to see the province also step up on that issue. If we take a look at health care, there are thousands of projects that the federal government is working on that will lead to houses being built, hospital capital investment and infrastructure across the province. What we are talking about in addition to that are the major projects worth multiple billions of dollars, not millions of dollars. That is what we passed shortly after the last federal election. Over the summer, we created the Major Projects Office, where there are more than a couple of dozen projects. When we take a look at the projects, we are talking about, for example, LNG in the province of British Columbia. We are talking about copper mines in the province of Saskatchewan. We are talking about nuclear energy expansion in the province of Ontario. We are talking about the expansion of ports in Montreal. We are talking about mines in Atlantic Canada. We are talking about infrastructure and transportation expansion in northern Canada. We are talking about infrastructure in every region of the country. Those are major projects getting close to half a trillion dollars. Speaking of half a trillion dollars, let us think about when the Prime Minister of Canada hosted the world to get investment coming into Canada just last month. We saw premiers, indigenous leaders and many other stakeholders, along with multibillionaires and people who are responsible for billions of dollars of potential investment. It was a historic meeting, where Canada received, through an investment summit chaired by the Prime Minister, half a trillion dollars because of the relationships he has developed and the efforts of our ministers and members of the caucus. That is completely unheard of in Canadian history. I have not even talked about the issue of international trade. We have passed legislation for Indonesia, Northern Ireland and England. We have other deals in the works with the Philippines and India. We have 20 other trade and security agreements with other nations. This, and a whole lot more, has all been done in the last 500-plus days that Canada has had a new Prime Minister and a new government. This includes all of the initiatives that I talked about. That is why I say with confidence that I do not have a problem comparing the current Prime Minister to any other prime minister I have had the opportunity to work with in terms of growing a stronger and a healthier Canadian economy.”

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“I disagree with the member. The Conservatives also changed their minds on the carbon tax when Erin O'Toole supported it. Our new Prime Minister listened to Canadians and decided to get rid of the carbon tax. The Conservatives should support that plan to build a stronger Canada.”

“Madam Speaker, the simple answer to that is no. I disagree with the member opposite. Having said that, since he wants to talk about the carbon tax, he should remember a fellow by the name of Erin O’Toole. Erin O’Toole was the leader of the Conservative Party, and Erin O’Toole supported a carbon tax. There was a change in the Conservative leadership, and it is not the first time that the Conservative Party changed its attitude towards the carbon tax. The Liberal Party selected a new leader. That new leader listened to Canadians and came out with a very strong statement dealing with the carbon tax, making the decision to get rid of it. I would think that the Conservative Party would support that idea. Canadians understand that there is a new Prime Minister and that Prime Minister has an agenda to build a stronger and healthier Canada.”

“The Prime Minister has only been in office for around 500 days, so the last 11 years are not his record. Our government is working with the provinces. We are investing billions of dollars in hydro and gas projects that will create tens of thousands of jobs.”

“Madam Speaker, it is important to recognize the Prime Minister and the Liberal government. I disagree when people make reference to the last 11 years. Canadians cannot be fooled. The Prime Minister has been in office for just over 500 days now. Leaders of political parties provide leadership on issues related to policy. Going forward, the Prime Minister and the government will deal collaboratively with the provinces. We have hydro in the province of Quebec, where there was a major announcement and a historic amount of money invested in hydro development. In the province of British Columbia, we are working collaboratively with a different political party. We also have huge investments in two major projects, the Pacific link project and the LNG phase two expansion. Cumulatively, we are talking a great deal of money, going into the multiple billions of dollars, which is going to create tens of thousands of jobs directly, not to mention many others indirectly.”

“Our government is focused on jobs. Even with U.S. trade problems and tariffs, Canada added over 100,000 jobs in the last 18 months. We need to stay focused on growing the economy and making life affordable.”

“Madam Speaker, I have not been here that long. I have actually been here for less time than the leader of the official opposition. Having said that, I can assure the member that every member of the Liberal caucus is focused on the importance of a job. Even with what is taking place between Canada and the U.S.A., we have still seen a net increase in job numbers of well over 100,000 in the last 18 months. That is with all the turmoil going on with the Trump tariffs and trade issues. It is important that we stay on an agenda that will see us grow our economy and deal with issues like affordability.”

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“Canada has a better credit rating than almost all other G7 countries. We can manage our money and grow our economy at the same time. Now is not the time to cut back. We need these projects because they create jobs and bring in future revenue.”

“Madam Speaker, there are two issues. The first one is in regard to debt. I am very sensitive to deficits. One of the things I look at, because it is something we should all take a look at, is our credit rating. If we look at the G7 countries, the most industrialized countries, we will find that Canada’s credit rating is better than virtually all of them. One might be better than ours, but we can manage our finances and build a stronger and healthier Canadian economy and society at the same time. This is not a time in which we should be cutting back and preventing projects from taking place. The projects we are talking about will provide not only jobs for today but also jobs for tomorrow and all sorts of economic opportunity, not to mention revenue into the future.”

“There is nothing wrong with being a career politician. My first job is always to serve the people in my riding. Also, the Conservatives opposed the dental care program for seniors.”

“Madam Speaker, I have a couple of quick points. One is that there seems to be a preoccupation with how long I have been a parliamentarian. I can assure the member, and I will defend the leader of the official opposition, that there is a role for career parliamentarians. What is important is that we serve our constituents first and foremost, something that I take a great sense of pride in. They are my first priority and they always will be my first priority. In regard to the other issue, the member can look at the seniors’ dental program. That is a program that the Conservatives opposed.”

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“Could the member speak about how trade helps make life more affordable, and what our government is doing to support it?”

“Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his service. He was elected to the Manitoba legislation first in 1988, as he mentioned. It was the year I was born, a lovely year. I thank the member for his lifetime of wisdom. Could he touch on the importance of trade as it relates to affordability, and our efforts on the trade system in general?”

“Trade is very important to Canada. The Prime Minister and our ministers must keep working to expand our trade around the world.”

“Madam Speaker, Canada is a trading nation. We need to have trade. That is why it is so critically important that the Prime Minister continue to push, along with our Minister of International Trade, our Minister of Agriculture and others, to expand trade opportunities by looking outside of Canada.”

“Can the member explain how saving energy makes life more affordable and how it helps people in Quebec?”

“Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Joliette—Manawan for his speech. My father lived in Joliette; it is a very nice city. Yesterday was Energy Efficiency Day. I would like to ask my colleague a question. Can he explain the connection between energy efficiency and affordability and how that benefits Quebeckers?”

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“In my riding, we are building housing with health support services, and rents are going down. What is happening with rents and this kind of housing in the member's riding?”

“Madam Speaker, I appreciated my colleague’s speech and especially the fact that he focused on homelessness, which he also did yesterday during question period. In my riding of Taiaiako’n—Parkdale—High Park, we are building housing with health support services. We are also seeing rents continue to come down. Can my colleague describe the situation in Joliette—Manawan with respect to rents and the construction of housing with health support services?”

“Money from Alberta's oil helps pay for health care in provinces like Manitoba. All of Canada benefits if we develop our resources while protecting the environment. I want the member to say if he agrees with that.”

“Madam Speaker, I understand that Bloc members are really opposed to any sort of oil pipeline development. However, I want to speak about the province of Manitoba, because the member made reference to health care and oil. Manitoba is a have-not province, meaning that it receives equalization payments. Without receiving those equalization payments, the quality of the health care system in Manitoba would be nowhere near what it is today, unless we were prepared to put in much more of a tax load on the residents of Manitoba. Contrast that to the province of Alberta. Alberta has contributed billions of dollars every year. That helps finance Manitoba’s health care. If we can get things right such that we are protecting the environment and developing our natural resources, all of Canada benefits. Does the member agree with that principle?”

“Our government is helping one million Canadians make their homes use less energy. Does the member support helping his own voters lower their energy bills this way?”

“Madam Speaker, I have had the honour of working with my colleague from Portage—Lisgar for the last year and a half on the environment committee, and we are currently studying affordability and energy efficiency measures. Our government introduced a national electricity strategy, and there is support for up to one million Canadians on energy efficiency measures. Does the member agree with providing support to Tracy and Cory with energy efficiency measures to save money on their energy bills?”

“I want the opposition to support our economic plan. High costs are caused by global problems and an unfair trade war, not our policies. We are helping families with tax cuts, cheaper child care, free dental care, and school food. We are also funding students, training trades workers, and helping people with disabilities get jobs. These programs build a strong economy.”

“Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the House today on a topic that I think is important to so many Canadians and their families, to talk about the plan that this government has brought forward. It is a plan to grow our economy, to strengthen our country and to invest in families and people who help power our nation. In speaking to the House today, I wanted to start by talking a bit about families and our government’s plan to support families at a time when we know that there have been challenges. These challenges have stemmed from economic conditions around the world, from global conflict and from a tariff war not of our choosing, one that is unjustified and that we continue to rally against. However, at heart, families are at the core of Canada. From day one, this government has invested in the types of supports to make life a little easier. Our very first act on taking office was a tax cut for 22 million Canadians. We followed that up by introducing a new groceries and essentials benefit, a payment that actually puts money back into the pockets of Canadian families, upwards of $1,800 a year at present. We have also taken the time to reinvest in early learning and child care. This is a critical support, a new program over the last few years in this country, stretching from coast to coast to coast, that I often describe, when I meet with people in my community, as a triple threat. It is a triple threat, because it is the type of program that gives our kids the very best start in life by offering them access to early learning, but it also helps save costs for families. In Ontario, it has reduced the cost of child care by, on average, over $10,000 for a family with a child in care. It has also helped our economy by allowing parents, but predominantly women, to move back into the workforce at the time of their choosing. This has been a significant policy, in terms of how it has actually helped families reduce their annual costs, and it has helped over 900,000 children coast to coast get that best start in life. We also continue to support and grow our dental care program. Over five million Canadians have access to dental care in a way that they did not a few short years ago. I have had seniors in my riding call this program a game-changer and say that they are getting dental care that they have put off for years as a result of the high cost of getting oral health care. These supports are intended to make a difference in the lives of Canadians in many different ways, but they do not stop there. We are also very much focused on investing in young people and youth. I can turn to something like the national school food program, a new program. Canada was the last G7 country to introduce a national school food program. Just this spring, our government made it permanent. That school food program puts upwards of $800 back into the pockets of families, who save on groceries that they would be purchasing for their children each day, and it ensures that all kids are going to school with food in their tummies, able and ready to learn. It is a program that makes a difference in every community. Over 80% of public schools across the country now take part in the national school food program. That is an incredible achievement and one that benefits families in their pocketbooks but also in ensuring that our kids have the very best and are able to make the most of their time at school. However, if we go a little farther in life, I think about some of the work that our government has been doing to support young people in their education, and in post-secondary education in particular. We have extended Canada student grants, so that now over 570,000 students across the country have access to grants of $4,200 per year to support their studies. These are grants that they do not have to repay. At a time when we know that there are governments in this country, provincial governments, that are cutting back on financial assistance for students, we are actually investing in students and investing in the supports that will help them be successful in post-secondary, at a time when we also know that they have high costs associated with taking time to go through that education. We have also made a generational investment in pathways into the skilled trades. For students looking to build a career of their choice, there are incredible opportunities available right now in the skilled trades. It is why we have set out new supports to help apprentices who are going through training, with an additional $400 a week to support them while they are in their studies. There is also a $5,000-completion bonus to help them get through to the end of their program. There are also supports for employers to create incentives to hire first-year apprentices. We know that these are the opportunities of the future. They are great jobs with benefits and with highly skilled and dynamic careers associated with them. We are really putting our focus on helping young people see the skilled trades in a new light and recognize them for what they are today: highly skilled jobs where they would work on some of the biggest projects and on major infrastructure across the country, and with a requirement of deep technical knowledge and skills. They would have a long future ahead of them in terms of a great career they can build going into the skilled trades. I also want to touch on an area that is of particular importance to me personally. Our government is working on assisting the many Canadians who have a disability, to ensure that they have access to employment and financial supports in their day-to-day life. We know right now that about 27% of Canadians over the age of 15 identify as having a disability. That is about eight million people. Our government has been active in supporting bringing down barriers for persons with disabilities in every aspect of their daily life, whether it is ensuring that we have more accessible buildings and standards, providing financial supports such the new Canada disability benefit or bringing down barriers to employment, which we know exist. Right now, the employment rate for persons with disabilities in Canada is only 67%, versus about 83% for the general Canadian population. That gap between 67% and 83% represents about a million people in Canada today whose potential could be unlocked if we could find ways to reduce barriers to employment. This is a labour force of people who are waiting to be included. There is work we are doing. We have an annual investment of about $100 million for the opportunities fund for persons with disabilities, which helps Canadians find and keep jobs by funding community organizations to deliver skills training, wage subsidies and job placement. We also have an enabling accessibility fund, which has supported over 8,000 projects since 2015 to help thousands of Canadians with disabilities gain access to programs, services and employment opportunities. I have spoken a lot with organizations, such as the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work, Easter Seals, the CNIB and Spectrum Works. These are community organizations, national organizations in scope, that work with the disability community and work to create employment opportunities. They are very much partners with the work we are trying to achieve as a government to bring down barriers and unlock the potential of persons with disabilities who are seeking to join the workforce. All the investments we are making constitute an investment in our social fabric and our social infrastructure as a country. They are foundational supports that go hand in hand with building a strong economy. A strong economy depends on people who can be included in the workforce, who have the education and the skills needed to have those jobs of tomorrow and who are going to help us in so many ways to build the projects and build the economy, as we are embarking on right now as we invest in major projects, infrastructure, housing and a building agenda that involves building communities strong from coast to coast to coast. For that reason, I would urge the members opposite to consider the plan the government has put forward, and I thank them for the opportunity to debate this motion today.”

“Our government has always supported seniors. We increased pension payments for people over 75 because their health and care costs are higher. We also gave more money to over a million low-income seniors and let them keep more of the money they earn.”

“Mr. Speaker, as a government, we have supported seniors every step of the way, including, as the member mentioned, by increasing OAS payments for seniors over the age of 75. That is very much a policy that is guided by the evidence we have, that as they age past 75, our oldest senior adults among actually us incur greater costs of care and of health care. That was the motivation behind ensuring that the seniors who face those highest costs have a bit of of additional support. We have also increased the GIS, benefiting over a million seniors, and have expanded the earnings exemption over time. We continue to support seniors every way we can.”

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“Our government cares about the cost of living, and we have worked to lower costs for Canadians. The member across the way should support our child care program, which saves families in our province over $10,000 a year per child.”

“Mr. Speaker, I think the actions of our government over the past year and a half demonstrate that we are very concerned about the costs that are facing Canadians, and we have done many things in our power to reduce those costs. I wold urge my colleague and friend across the way to get on board and support things such as child care in our home province, which is saving families right now over $10,000 a year for a child in care.”

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“Child care costs too much in Toronto. I want my colleague to explain what our government is doing to help families get child care.”

“Mr. Speaker, that was a fantastic speech by my colleague. We are both representatives of the incredible city of Toronto. One of the pain points in Toronto in terms of affordability is around child care. I am wondering if the member could speak to how and what we are doing as a government to ensure that families have access to such important economic infrastructure.”

“We extended our child care deal with Ontario for four more years. This keeps daily fees around $19 and helps open new spots. I want Ontario to keep working with us to support this program.”

“Mr. Speaker, in fact, just last week, the Minister of Jobs and Families, along with her counterpart in Ontario, announced a four-year extension of the early learning and child care program in Ontario. That is going to create stability in terms of the fees for families in the coming months, ensuring that the average cost of daily child care is about $19. It is also going to help us work towards the creation of additional spaces in Ontario, because we know there are so many families still looking to make sure they have access to a spot. The demand is there, the need is there and we are there to support this program. We are urging the province to be as active and supportive as it can be as well.”