Anna Gainey

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Scarborough Southwest for her excellent advocacy. Nutritious meals at school do indeed help kids reach their full potential. They also help ease the pressure on grocery costs for families. With federal investments, school food programs are now reaching 400,000 more students across Canada. In Ontario, this means approximately 242 additional schools are serving meals this year, bringing the total participation of Ontario schools to 92%. The other side foolishly calls this bureaucracy. We call this more children learning and thriving.

Mr. Speaker, I think this is a good opportunity to remind members of the House that those across from me voted against the national school food program, which represents a savings of $900 for families with two children in the program. We have reached 80% of public schools across Canada, in partnership with the provinces and with organizations that are there every day working with kids and working with schools to ensure kids have a healthy start in life. It would be great if they would get on board with the national school food program.

Mr. Speaker, our government is investing in families and family supports. That includes the Canada child benefit, which represents more than $8,000 annually for children six years of age and under and $6,800 for children up to age 17. Investments in dental care now provide 6.5 million Canadians with access to dental care. That number includes over 800,000 children, and represents a $900 savings.

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about food security. Thanks to funding from the Canadian government for the national school food program, Moisson Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean will now deliver 200 meals a day to students in the region, and up to 1,000 meals a day by 2029. That is one of the concrete measures we have taken to make life more affordable for Canadians, and the members opposite voted against it. That is shameful.

Mr. Speaker, I also want to highlight the Canada groceries and essentials benefit that we created this year, which will help 12 million Canadians, giving a family of four more than $1,900 to help with the cost of living. We will continue to be there for families across Canada, including those in my colleague's riding.

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to ensuring that the New Horizons for Seniors program reaches community organizations led by seniors who are improving Canadians' quality of life. These changes are important to keep the program accessible while also complying with the standards of integrity that Canadians expect. We are working with the Canada Revenue Agency and with the department to help organizations that need assistance managing this number. The forms are ready. The deadline is July 14, and the department is ready to help anyone who needs help.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. Parents are asking us to help protect their children from being harmed by social media and we are listening. The safe social media act implements a minimum age requirement of 16 years to access social media, and three strict duties: the duty to protect children, the duty to act responsibly and the duty to make certain content inaccessible. We are taking action because our children deserve it.

Mr. Speaker, we are focused on economic growth and we are working hard to achieve it. Our plan is working. The youth unemployment rate has fallen by nearly 1%. That means 22,000 jobs for our young people. What is more, we are investing $6 billion in the skilled trades to recruit, hire and train 100,000 young people. We on this side of the House are building Canada strong for everyone.

Mr. Speaker, our government has a plan to transform the foundation of our economy and make it more resilient. We are creating tens of thousands of jobs, particularly in Darlington and Contrecoeur. We are investing in hospitals, community centres, public transit and affordable housing. We are creating the conditions for long-term prosperity and building Canada strong from coast to coast to coast.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Terrebonne for her question. Our government invested $10 billion in Quebec, and young people are going to reap the benefits. We are going to build modern school campuses, hospitals and emergency rooms. We are going to improve public transit to take people to school and to work. We are building a strong economy for our youth and for our future.

Mr. Speaker, the government has a plan to build a strong, resilient economy. We see this in the 8,000 jobs in Contrecœur and in the 1,000 jobs at Nouveau Monde Graphite in Matawinie. In addition, this Friday, 12 million Canadians will receive the Canada groceries and essentials benefit. This is a significant top-up payment to help families cope with the cost of living. In addition, we have reduced the gas tax. We are here to build the future and a strong economy for all while supporting Canadians and families across the country.

Mr. Speaker, we continue to be there for Canadian families. We are investing in a school food program to help families with the cost of groceries. That represents over $800 for a family that is benefiting from this program. We also have a dental care program that is helping families and Canadians with the cost of living. I want to note that, in the riding of my colleague who asked the question, over 32,000 residents benefit from this dental care program. The opposition members voted against this program. This is the type of support we are giving Canadians by being there for them right now.

Mr. Speaker, it is important to remind everyone that we are in a trade war with the United States. This does present unique challenges for our economy, which is why this government has taken action to help Canadians with affordability. Notably, on Friday, 12 million Canadians will receive the groceries and essentials benefit. This is a $950 benefit for a single Canadian, over $1,200 for a couple and upwards of $1,800 for a vulnerable family of four. This will make a real difference for Canadians, and we are proud to support these commitments.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are working hard and this government is working hard for Canadians. We have taken real action on affordability. This includes making the national school food program permanent, which represents savings of up to $800 for a family with children in school. We have made investments in child care and dental care and continue to invest in the Canada child benefit. We are there to support Canadians as they face affordability challenges and as we face this tariff war with the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out that the first thing we did as a government was to lower taxes for 22 million Canadians. Help with groceries is also on the way for 12 million Canadians and will lower their weekly costs. I do not believe that my colleague supported the Canada child benefit, even though it is helping 11,400 families in his riding. Another 29,000 constituents of the Beauce community are also receiving dental care, a program that my colleague voted against.

Mr. Speaker, it is true that just a week ago, in the spring economic update, we announced an investment of $6 billion to recruit, train and hire 100,000 skilled trades workers in Canada. That includes Quebec. We are building major projects. We are building Canada strong across the country. We will continue to provide career opportunities for young people for the future.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Les Pays-d'en-Haut for his question. Our spring economic update is about taking responsible action today while investing in the future for young people. We are investing $6 billion to recruit, train and hire up to 100,000 skilled trades workers across Canada. This includes thousands of jobs in Quebec, such as in Contrecoeur and the Matawinie region. We are building the strongest economy in the G7 with our domestic workforce.

Mr. Speaker, in yesterday's economic update, we proposed investing over $6 billion to recruit and train more than 100,000 young people in the trades. These new workers will help us build a strong Canada and deliver major projects across the country. We are investing in our young people and in our country, and I hope that the members opposite will support the plan that was presented yesterday.

Mr. Speaker, we lowered the retirement age to 65. We increased the guaranteed income supplement by 10% for seniors living alone, and we also increased old age security for seniors aged 75 and older. We also invested $54 million to improve quality of life for seniors in more than 400 communities across the country through the New Horizons for Seniors Program. We are here for seniors.

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, as my colleague said, we lowered the retirement age. Those folks over there wanted to raise it to 65. We are there for seniors. We are there for all Canadians. We are also supporting them through the Canada groceries and essentials benefit, which will help 12 million Canadians who need it right now.