Kenney defends income-splitting promise, links it to ‘stable families’

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.

READ MORE: Plenty of alternatives to income splitting: experts

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.

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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.