Madam Speaker, this is the reality across the country. Because parents are not okay and are so busy worrying about paying for food, heat, hydro and groceries, their kids are less engaged. They do not get the attention they need. They feel disconnected. We know this.

We can look at the Children First study that came out in August. This is an incredible organization that does studies. This is what is happening to children in our country. Food insecurity in children is up 29%. Canada ranks 30th out of 38 in the OECD for child well-being. Canada ranks 81st out of 193 countries on the global KidsRights Index, which is down from 48th in 2022. Listen to this one: Suicide is a leading cause of death in children. Yes, this is linked to the carbon tax because the most compassionate thing someone can do as a leader is make life affordable. That is what we need in this country.

Jennifer wrote to me and said that she and her family have lived comfortably on a budget so she could stay home with their kids. The cost of child care was way too high. Jennifer's husband works the night shift at a logistics warehouse of a major grocery corporation. As long as he has worked there, there has never been such a slowdown, especially considering it is the week before Thanksgiving. They are cramming more orders onto fewer trucks. Because stores are selling less, orders are smaller and less frequent, and production is down to a third of the usual. Jennifer writes, “Hero workers who worked their asses off during Covid are now getting slapped in the face right before Christmas with layoffs and jobs lost; that is what the carbon tax has done to my family.”

Donna is a senior from my community. She called me this summer and asked me if I would stand in the House of Commons and ask the Prime Minister a question. She wanted to know if he could live on $1,300 a month, because that is what she is doing.

I have travelled this country. I have listened to the frontline workers who have severe burnout because they, too, are struggling with the cost of living. If the people who are on the front lines of our health care, our social services and our education system are not okay, and if our parents are not okay because they are lying in bed at night wondering if they are going to be able to keep their house, then our kids are not okay.

The most compassionate thing we can do today is approve this motion, get rid of the carbon tax and care for the Canadians who are suffering.

Michelle Ferreri

$469,988.00