I believe that families are the foundation of our society. If we want to build a strong country, then our governments should not adopt policies that harm families.

Ottawa's tax policy, however, treats families unfairly.

I want to fix that.

When it comes to applying for a student loan, applying for Old Age Security, or calculating your Child Tax Benefit - basically, anything that could put money in your pocket - Ottawa bases this on *family* income.

But once it's time to file your taxes - when it comes to filling Ottawa's coffers - suddenly it's all about you as individuals.

Ottawa can't have it both ways.

It's time to allow income splitting for couples. 

We are in a season when lots of people will lose their jobs due to no fault of their own. Lots of two-income families will be reduced to one. Other families will choose only one income in order to care for their children or aging parents. Caring for family members is even more critical right now in a COVID-19 world, when schools are closed and seniors residences can be high risk environments.

Instead of sending their hard-earned money to Ottawa, let’s give couples the chance to use it to make the right choices for their families.

Family is the most important building block of society. Therefore, on principle, spouses should be able to split their income.

As a fiscal conservative, I believe we need to be realistic in our approach, however.

Like in the Harper government era, I would limit this to families with children 18 years old or younger. 

And to remove the Liberal attacks that claim this is about helping the most wealthy families, I would cap the income amount at a maximum of $70,000 per family.

If Trudeau and the Liberals want to claim in the next election that two people earning $35,000 each are too wealthy to qualify for income splitting, then I look forward to us winning seats in the GTA and all around Vancouver. Let the Liberals try to convince young families trying to buy a home that they're "too rich" and shouldn't be able to split their income.

I believe that as we rebuild our economy, the best way for the government to help people get back on their feet is by taking less of their money.

Strengthening Canadian families helps build a strong country - and can help us win the next election.