Thank you, Cordella, for the introduction, and thanks for welcoming us along with Alana and all your incredible staff here at the YMCA for your support.

I’m happy to be here with Dan, with Kevin and Terry, who are all strong voices from Manitoba and across the country. Good to see Premier Stefanson; always nice to make announcements with you, Heather, and provincial minister Ewasko and other colleagues.

Today is a great reminder of what we can do when we all work together to deliver for families and for folks in Manitoba and across the country. I just spent two weeks doing different town halls with Canadians across the country. I met with nurses, workers, PSWs, students, farmers, among others. I listened to them and answered a few questions and, obviously, one of the things that keeps coming back for Canadians across the country is concerns about the rising cost of living.

With the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we have seen an acceleration in the rising cost of living. A lot of families are having trouble paying their bills. That is why we have taken measures to help the people who need it the most.

We doubled the GST credit for six months for roughly 11 million households, eligible couples with two kids got up to an extra $467 back in their pockets, and eligible seniors got about $225 on average. We’re fighting climate change with a price on pollution that is giving back more money than most people pay. A family of four here in Manitoba will get over $1,000 back this coming fiscal year through climate action incentive payments. We enhanced the Canada Workers Benefit, which means workers can receive up to $1,200 more this year. We’re delivering payments of an extra $500 for people who are struggling with the cost of rent. We launched the Canada Dental Benefit that has helped more than 220,000 kids whose families couldn’t afford to send them to the dentist go to the dentist so far. Then, of course, we’re continuing our work to make child care more affordable right across the country, including here in Manitoba.

Today, we’re here together to announce that Manitoba will achieve an average of $10 a day for regulated child care in a few weeks on April 2, three years ahead of schedule.

(Applause)

We just met with a number of parents here at the YMCA. For example, Brenda and Peter told me they’re now saving hundreds of dollars a month, which are savings that can be used for groceries, other bills, or after-school activities, and it’s making a real difference in their lives. This is part of our plan to make life more affordable for the middle class and for people working hard to join it. It’s part of our plan to build an economy that works for all Canadians.

Parents, and especially mothers, shouldn’t have to choose between their families and their careers. When child care is more affordable, it’s good for families and it’s also good for the economy, because it allows more parents to be a part of the labour market. 

We’re keeping our promise to make child care more affordable. Today’s announcement for $10-a-day child care in Manitoba comes less than two years after we reached an agreement with the province and, of course, all of this work wouldn’t be possible without the advocacy and leadership of the child care sector. So, to all the experts, educators, providers, and families who’ve been tireless in advocating for better child care for years, indeed for decades, thank you for your continued work.

As you know, we have agreements with all provinces and territories to make child care more affordable for families. We’re seeing results here in Manitoba and across the country. Families in nearly half of provinces and territories are now benefiting from an average of $10 a day or less. That includes both Quebec and the Yukon, who have led the country in delivering affordable child care. And fees have been cut in half in all other provinces and territories, with work on track to deliver $10-a-day child care everywhere across the country by March 2026, but now, in April, in Manitoba.

We are continuing our efforts to make life more affordable by being there to support the middle class and those working hard to join it. We are building an economy that focuses on the well-being of everyone in Manitoba and of all Canadians.