CHILDREN'S ACTIVITY
TAX CREDIT ACT, 2010

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I appreciate the opportunity to speak to this legislation.

This morning, when I was making breakfast for my little girl-she's five years old-she said, "Mummy, will you play with me?" I said, "Mummy has to go give a speech." It was about eight o'clock. She said, "What's the speech about, Mummy?" and I said, "It's the children's activity tax credit." She had a huge smile on her face because it said "children"-one of the few times that this Legislature is actually speaking to that five-year-old demographic that we all desperately want.

She looked at me with this huge smile on her face. I think, ever since we were visited by the tooth fairy a couple of weeks ago, she gets really excited when she thinks she's getting something. So she was very excited. She said, "Do I get that?" and I said, "Yes, you do."

I realized at that point in time that we have to be very careful when we put forward initiatives in this chamber where every little girl, like Victoria, or every little boy whom she will go to school with is eligible. While we're saying "Yes, everybody's eligible," we have to be very careful, because the cost of ballet-I know this because I put her in ballet-has increased as a result of the HST. I know this because she's in ringette, and that cost, as well, has gone up, as has our driving to and from; the cost of our fuel. I know also because she does play soccer, indoor and outdoor, that that has increased as well, and it has all increased beyond $50.

Hon. John Gerretsen: She's one busy little girl, I tell you.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Yes, she's a busy little girl, and I'm fortunate to be able to put her through those programs. I'm very fortunate, and she is fortunate.

But they say in life, children are the great equalizer, and my little girl goes to a public school and she goes to birthday parties. In a lot of cases, the little girls don't know her mom is the MPP, and I want to keep it that way. But I'm going to tell you, when I sometimes go to birthday parties and accompany my little girl, I see single mothers who have done every single thing they can to put a birthday party on for their little girl or their little boy so that they haven't done without. Then I think of those mothers and those children who I know, and I know for a fact that those parents are not thinking about a $50 tax credit because right now, they cannot afford the registration at all, and I'm speaking from first-hand experience in this chamber. That's why I'm encouraging people from all sides of the political spectrum in this chamber to consider doing what my colleague from Durham has suggested, which is bringing forward public consultation, and not just in Toronto. Because I think of Victoria's little friends and I think of equality.

I also want to bring forward some research by the University of Alberta. This is a $50 tax credit. The federal tax credit is $75. The University of Alberta found that "overall"-and I'm quoting this and I'll be happy to provide it to Hansard-"only 15.6% reported that it had increased their children's participation in physical activity programs; however, lower-income families used the tax credit less than wealthier families because they couldn't afford the registration ... for physical activity programs to begin with."

This is a great idea, but we have to make it fair for every child across the province. We can talk about the semantics and talk about the government lines; I'm not interested in that today, because I want every little girl and every little boy in my daughter's senior kindergarten class in Nepean to have equal access to sports and other children's activities, whether that's music or art lessons, whether that's karate, whether that's Cubs.

I think the timing is also suspect. I've often, and many people can point to this, been an advocate for this type of tax credit. In fact, in 2008, I requested that my colleague Toby Barrett, the MPP for Haldimand-Norfolk, put this idea forward. He put forward that-and I'll read this to you. At the time, on page 16, it was entitled, "Health promotion sports tax credit." What I put forward to Toby, who ended up bringing it to the finance committee, was:

"The Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs recommends the Minister of Finance, within total planned program spending, create a provincial health promotion sports tax to match or exceed the federal children's fitness tax credit to children in sports under the age of 16."

At the time, the Liberals rejected that.

By the way, Mr. Speaker-I know I'm a little late-my colleague from York-Simcoe will be splitting the time with me.

The reality is that timing is everything. It's sort of what we talk about: In life, timing is everything. Let me say this: Timing is everything. Two years ago, sports registration didn't increase because of the HST. We didn't see skyrocketing deficits, like we do right now at $20 billion, which is about $1,500 per family that is a debt burden on top of the $1,100 or $1,200 per family they're now paying as a result of the HST. Timing is everything. If we really, truly took this type of initiative seriously in this chamber, we would have adopted this approach during better economic times so that parents who might not be able to bring forward this type of initiative to their child or to be able to pay for this registration could have taken advantage of it earlier on.

My colleague from York-Simcoe will continue to speak to this bill, but I have a simple request to all members of this chamber: Think about those children whose parents cannot afford to send their child to an activity like the ones we're talking about today. One of my colleagues said that anyone who doesn't support this is out of touch. Well, I think it's been very clear that we support this type of initiative, but you have to get it right. If we truly want to get it right, we have to think about those little girls and little boys who we want to have an equal opportunity. Because of the tax burden on their parents, because of the regressive nature of the HST, it is difficult for those families to put their children through sports or any other type of activity. Right now, $50 might be a lot to some people, but they will never qualify for it unless you do something about the sports registration fees themselves.

Thanks very much. My colleague from York-Simcoe will now speak for me.