Lost her last election, in 2008, with 29% of the vote.
Income Tax April 29th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, the department is aware of the survey and has a meeting scheduled with the union on May 11. It was scheduled before the announcement today. We will proceed with that meeting. The survey is an item on the agenda at that meeting.
Again I state there were no specific allegations released today.
Income Tax April 29th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, the survey that was released today is very general in nature. There are no specific allegations revealed whatsoever.
The department is very committed, as is the government, to fair taxation for everyone. If concrete evidence of political interference is provided, the department will definitely investigate.
Canada Customs April 25th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to inform the hon. member that the statement quoted in the Sun has no basis in fact.
Everything that was promised in the anti-smuggling initiative is now fully operational. Numerous part-time officers have become full-time officers. Furthermore we have hired 30 new full-time officers as of April 13. Our 25 per cent increase in enforcement is a fact.
Members Of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act April 25th, 1994
Madam Speaker, we have before us for discussion Bill C-208 which proposes amendments to the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act, amendments which seek to end double dipping and delay commencement of pension benefits to a former member until he or she reaches age 60.
I will confine my remarks to the bill's treatment of double dipping. My hon. colleague from Nepean will address the problems raised by the proposed provisions dealing with delayed receipt of benefits to former members and survivors.
When I refer to double dipping I am referring to the simultaneous drawing of both a pension under the Members of Parliament Retirement Allowances Act and a salary or other payment from the Government of Canada. The government has announced that it intends to curtail this practice. Indeed, the right hon. Prime Minister has on several occasions stated that the government is committed to ending double dipping. The bill purports to do this but it must be said that the approach adopted here is seriously flawed.
First, the proposed section 13.1 would remove the re-employed former member's entitlement altogether rather than just suspend that entitlement during the period of re-employment.
Obvious inequities would then result since there is no provision to reinstate the former member's pension when his or her re-employment terminated as inevitably would occur. The bill would appear to impose a lifetime pension disentitlement for a former member. This surely could not have been its intent.
Second, the term "remuneration" is not defined and the proposed scope of the source of that remuneration is very wide. Crown corporation directors' fees and per diems for even short periods of part time service to the Government of Canada would be caught by this very broad definition, as would contract fees, even though receipt of pension had already been taken into account when those fees were set.
As the bill is drafted, receipt of any remuneration no matter how little the amount would disentitle a former member from receiving any pension at all. As I mentioned that disentitlement would appear to be for life.
Third, the bill provides no mechanism to allow the pension administration to monitor possible cases of re-employment. Therefore there would be no way of knowing if and when a former member started to receive remuneration in another capacity from the Government of Canada, especially since there is no requirement in the bill for former members to report their re-employment and remuneration.
This leads to a related problem. No provision is made in the bill for the recovery of overpayments of pension, overpayments which would inevitably arise since the administration would have no sure way of knowing that re-employment had occurred and that the pension entitlement should be terminated. Recovery of such overpayments could prove difficult, expensive and time consuming at a time when government resources must be husbanded very carefully.
In conclusion, the bill would put an end to double dipping but it would not do so in a fair and even-handed way. I wish to state again that the government fully intends to curtail this practice which has attracted so much criticism. However, it wants to adopt a more disciplined and integrated approach taking into account all aspects of a member of Parliament's compensation.
As hon. members are aware, the government has received the recommendations regarding members' compensation from a firm of consultants engaged by the previous government.
These recommendations have been referred to the Lapointe commission which must report to the House by mid-July of this year. Rather than rushing into law seriously flawed legislation such as the bill before us now, the more prudent approach for dealing with the issue of double dipping for persons under the pension plan seems to be to await the deliberations of the Lapointe commission. The recommendations of the commission can then be studied carefully in the course of the government's consideration of its options for reform of the pension plan, a consideration of options which would be carried out in a context of the overall compensation package provided for members of Parliament.
Foreign Affairs April 21st, 1994
Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak on a very serious issue, the Canadian position on Bosnia.
Our policy has been consistent. In our foreign policy handbook issued in May of 1993 we warned: "The Yugoslav question will take years to resolve. Canada must be prepared to commit resources and time to help rebuild new states and societies in this region".
Before we can help rebuild we must first help to resolve this terrible tragic situation in Bosnia.
The issue before us tonight is the use of air support to protect safe areas in the former republic of Yugoslavia, a very delicate question and an issue that is fundamentally different for Canada than it is for that of the United States; as already mentioned, different since we are the ones with peacekeeping troops on the ground. If the United States administration had followed through on the Vance-Owen plan and committed U.S. ground troops as part of the UN force we may not be facing the question we are facing tonight.
On May 2, 1993 the U.S. pledged 25,000 troops. To this day the U.S. has no troops in the former republic of Yugoslavia.
Our troops have undertaken tremendously difficult UN assignments. In June 1992 they were deployed to Sarajevo to reopen and secure the airport so that the airlift of relief supplies could begin. In January and February of 1993 more Canadian troops were deployed temporarily to the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia to monitor developments in the border areas with Serbia. In April 1993 more Canadian troops were sent to Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia to ensure the presence of UN protection force in the besieged city.
We must insist that if they go forward with air strikes the same country that is so eager to do so will also bring ground troops to help. We must ensure that our strategy is sound to protect our Canadian peacekeepers in a very volatile situation.
It will be very difficult to suggest the removal of our troops with the knowledge of the brutality being suffered and the great need for humanitarian assistance.
We went to the former Yugoslavia to promote a peaceful settlement to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia and to provide relief to its victims, innocent victims we know have endured unbelievable brutality and senseless death. We know that women have been raped, innocent children killed and both men and women senselessly tortured. In this day and age it is not tolerable to have this situation continuing.
We then face the question of how to resolve it. What is the next step? We must formulate a strategic plan, a plan that goes beyond one day, a plan that goes into the future, a plan that includes a settlement that can bring lasting peace to the region. The settlement must include the NATO forces, the Russians, the Serbs, the Bosnians, the Muslims and all other involved parties so we can end the history of hate that began over 1,000 years ago.
National Revenue March 25th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I believe I just stated that this survey does not allow us to draw certain conclusions and that is one. It is a snapshot in time.
The minister has consistently stated in the House that we are continuing to strengthen enforcement in all aspects of revenue collection.
National Revenue March 25th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, the government and I want
to acknowledge that the survey makes interesting points that we are taking quite seriously.
However we also want to point out that it is a snapshot. It does show changes in attitude over time. Therefore it would be difficult to draw certain conclusions, for example, that Canadians are either more or less disgruntled than at other times.
Excise Act February 22nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, this government has addressed the criminal aspect and how we can prevent it from happening.
As mentioned earlier, clause 3 of this bill allows for enhanced enforcement of other police officers and other police forces designated by the government. That will assist us in preventing future smuggling and will stop it before it accelerates any further.
Excise Act February 22nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I could not agree with the hon. member more that if two years ago the government had taken action we would not find ourselves in the situation we are today.
Unfortunately the government two years ago did not take action. There are members on this side of the House who have pressed this issue for the past five and six years. Unfortunately the past government did not take action. However that is what we are doing with our anti-smuggling and action plan. We are taking action.
I would also like to inform the hon. member, in case he is not aware, that this government was aware of the problem as an opposition party. We took hold of the problem when we became the government. We began addressing the problem immediately after the October 25 election.
If the hon. member would refer to newspaper articles he would see that before the House was recalled in January we had already begun discussions. We are dealing with the problem.
Excise Act February 22nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, this government's action plan has addressed the issue of smuggling. We have addressed and acknowledged that smuggling is not limited to tobacco. This plan is set out with that focus in mind: to address all aspects of tobacco, alcohol, guns, whatever. We are increasing enforcement by 25 per cent. The bill allows certain sections of enforcement to be expanded and given to designated police forces to assist in combating smuggling, not just of tobacco but of alcohol and other items as well.