Carly Whitman works part time as a nursing aid at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, while her husband works two jobs as they support their three children.
Despite having three jobs between two people, the family is living pay cheque to pay cheque.
On Monday morning (Aug. 28), Whitman asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about why she and her family do not qualify for the grocery rebate, and spoke about her goal of owning a home.
“I knew if I could ever say one thing to you, it’d be about the grocery rebate and looking at the eligibility,” Whitman said, speaking to Trudeau and Milton MP Adam van Koeverden. “I’m from a middle-class family, and when we found out we weren’t eligible, it was a sting.”
Trudeau was in Milton at Springridge Farm to speak with families about affordability and back to school plans.
Whitman and Trudeau also spoke about access to childcare. She said her youngest child is being waitlisted for 18 months to three years to get into affordable daycare.
“It’s a challenge that has so many different factors to it,” Trudeau responded. “Some are global, a lot of them are local, and we’re working very hard on connecting municipalities, trying to figure out how to accelerate construction of housing. We’ve had housing crises before, when soldiers returned from World War Two, or when the baby boomers turned 20 and everyone was heading out to their own places, we had to build a lot of houses quickly. We can do this.”
Trudeau sat with about half a dozen families at the Milton agri-business, speaking with children and parents about the upcoming school year and the struggles they face.
The prime minister also visited the farm’s shop and interacted with the staff, though he was not seen buying or eating anything.
“I felt very heard,” Whitman said. “I love that he took the time to listen. I thought it’d be a two-minute thing, but he sat with me and got to know my children, which I will always remember. I definitely consider him more of a person now and not just a political figure.”
