Restore Affordability

20 August 2026

For generations, Canadians have believed that hard work and responsible choices should lead to a better life. Families could count on the promise that by working hard and managing their finances wisely, they would be able to afford a home, support their children, and build a secure future.

Today, that promise feels increasingly out of reach. After more than a decade of Liberal economic mismanagement, Canadians are paying the price. This past year Canada recorded the weakest GDP growth in the first term of any recent Prime Minister, with the economy contracting by 0.5 percent. The bottom 80 percent of Canadians are falling behind as household costs continue to outpace incomes. A recent Ipsos poll found that 70 percent of Canadians say high taxes are eroding their standard of living. At the same time, investment is leaving Canada, more than 61,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost since January 2025, and businesses are increasingly looking south to the United States.

Liberals argue that today’s economic challenges are the result of global events beyond Canada’s control. While inflation, supply chain disruptions, and international uncertainty have affected countries around the world, government policy determines how well a country responds. After years of decisions that increased taxes, expanded red tape, delayed major projects, and discouraged investment, Canada has been left less competitive and less resilient. Global challenges may be unavoidable, but poor policy choices have made them harder for Canadian families and businesses.

I have sat in the House of Commons and heard Liberal ministers celebrate announcements while dismissing Canadians’ concerns. But Canadians do not experience the economy through speeches in Parliament. They experience it at the grocery store, at the gas pump, and around their kitchen tables. After all the announcements, spending, and promises, they are left asking one simple question: do you feel better off?

Every week, I hear from residents in Aurora and Richmond Hill who are doing everything right but are still falling behind. Young families have given up on home ownership. Seniors struggle to stretch fixed incomes through another month of rising grocery bills. Working parents wonder how they can continue providing for their children as the cost of virtually everything continues to climb.

The affordability crisis is not simply an abstract debate. It is the defining challenge facing Canadians today. Few statistics illustrate this reality more starkly than the unprecedented demand for food banks. Food Banks Canada recently reported nearly 2.2 million visits in a single month—the highest number ever recorded. Even more troubling, many of those seeking assistance are employed. Food banks were created for temporary emergencies, not as a permanent support system for working families.

Another troubling reminder came in UNICEF’s latest report card on child well-being among wealthy countries. Canada ranked well below expectations on measures including life satisfaction and child poverty. In one of the world’s most prosperous nations, too many children continue to grow up in households struggling to meet their basic needs.

Behind these statistics are real people. Parents are skipping meals so their children can eat, seniors are choosing between groceries and medication, and young Canadians are delaying marriage, children, or home ownership because financial stability seems further away each year.

Canadians understand that government decisions matter. Public policy can either ease financial pressures or make them worse. When spending fuels inflation, taxes increase, and excessive regulation discourages investment and housing construction, families ultimately bear the cost.

Canada needs a renewed focus on creating the conditions for prosperity. That means encouraging investment, rewarding work, lowering unnecessary taxes where possible, removing barriers to housing construction, and restoring confidence that the next generation will enjoy a better standard of living than the last.

Economic growth is not an abstract concept. It allows businesses to hire, workers to earn higher wages, governments to fund essential public services, and families to build financial security.

Affordability is about more than economics; it is about dignity. That is why restoring it must be our top priority. Canadians deserve policies that make life more affordable, encourage economic growth, and restore hope that the promise of this country remains within reach for everyone willing to work for it. The record demand at food banks and the troubling findings on child poverty are more than statistics. They are a call to action. Our country is strongest when Canadians have the opportunity not simply to survive, but to thrive once again.

I will keep fighting for these fundamental principles by continuing to hold the Carney liberals to account and by proposing common sense policies that can provide much needed relief to our community and to all Canadians.