OTTAWA - Federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney has come out in vigorous support of his government's contentious income-splitting promise.
Kenney says social research indicates that people who come from stable families do better economically, and income-splitting supports those families.
Income-splitting, a key Tory pledge during the 2011 federal election campaign, has since faced criticism from those both within the Conservative government — including Finance Minister Jim Flaherty — and from economists.
But Kenney, a staunch social Conservative, once again defended the concept when asked about it during an appearance at the Manning convention, an annual networking conference for conservative Canadians.
When asked if "stable families" meant a household where one parent stays home and the other works, Kenney said there were different types of families that are stable.
He said income-splitting wouldn't leave children from unstable families at a disadvantage.
Rather, he says income-splitting for parents is about removing discrimination in the tax code.