VANCOUVER – Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff committed to helping middle-class Vancouver families pay the cost of caring for aging parents, grandparents and sick loved ones at a Family Care roundtable with local residents in Vancouver today.
“Providing home care to sick or aging loved ones is increasingly difficult for families, which is why I’m committed to helping ease the cost of family care,” said Mr. Ignatieff.
Following Mr. Ignatieff’s Open mike town hall in Richmond, where the Liberal Leader answered unscripted questions from those in attendance, he held a Family Care roundtable at the Mount Pleasant Community Centre along with local Liberal MPs and candidates.
“The Harper government hasn’t done enough to ease the economic pressures faced by middle class families,” said Ujjal Dosanjh, Liberal Health Critic and MP for Vancouver South. “While the Conservatives’ big plan is to give $6 billion in tax breaks to profitable corporations, Liberals are making a different choice by helping Canadian families who are struggling with the costs of family care.”
“To help families care for their parents, grandparents or sick loved ones of any age, a future Liberal government will create a new Family Care Employment Insurance Benefit,” explained Vancouver Quadra Liberal MP Joyce Murray. “This will allow a family caregiver to collect EI for up to six months, much like maternal and parental leave, in order to care for gravely ill family members at home.”
“Many low- and middle-income family caregivers need additional help to provide essential care to a family member at home,” said Vancouver Centre MP Hedy Fry, Chair of the Liberal B.C. Caucus. “That’s why a Liberal government will create a new Family Care Tax Benefit, modeled on the Child Tax Benefit, to reduce the pressure on hundreds of thousands of struggling Canadian families.”
To enhance care for our parents, our grandparents and our sick loved ones, and to recognize the important contribution of family caregivers, the Liberal Party announced that it will invest $1 billion annually in a new Family Care Plan. A Liberal government will pay for this Family Care plan and reduce the Conservatives’ record $56-billion deficit by making better choices, including canceling the Harper Conservatives’ $6-billion corporate tax break.
“Canadians can trust the Liberal Party to safeguard public health care,” concluded B.C. Senator Mobina Jaffer. “Making family care easier also helps to contain health care costs in the long run. Working with the provinces and territories, Liberals will ensure that Canadians have access to a similar standard of home care services, regardless of where they live.”
