The Budget  In the early 1960s the Canadian dollar slid in its competitiveness. This erosion in confidence raised the ire of Canadians who nicknamed the devalued loonie the Diefendollar. Concern over currency ultimately cost the Tories their majority. One might ask how low did the dollar go. In fact it was 92 cents.

Canada Customs And Revenue Agency Act  Taxes especially from an agency like Revenue Canada is not the temporary measure once promised to Canadians; it is a certainty. In the United States revenue is collected by the IRS, the Internal Revenue Service. The mere mention of the name IRS to U.S. citizens sends a shiver down their spine. If a citizen of the U.S. gets a letter from the IRS it usually means bad news.

Religious Organizations  Mr. Speaker, 70% of the claims brought by former IRS students were brought directly against the church organizations involved and the federal government. We have never left the negotiation table. We are happy to continue negotiations but we felt we had to reach out directly to the victims so their legitimate concerns could be dealt with much more quickly than if the matter was left to the courts to grind along over 25 years.

Canada Customs And Revenue Agency Act  We think for ethical reasons we should look at what happened in the United States, specifically with the Internal Revenue Service. In the evolvement and development of the IRS there are dangers for us in an non-controlled agency. The IRS is a government department and not a fully independent agency. It has extensive powers and operates under stringent private sector performance standards similar to those that would be entrusted to the agency by Bill C-43.

Constitution of Canada  The Newfoundland colonial secretary Sir Robert Bond negotiated a free trade fisheries deal with the American secretary of state Mr. Blaine. The Bond-Blaine treaty as it came to be known raised the ire of Canada's maritime provinces. The maritime provinces were upset that Newfoundland had done an end run around them and had gained duty free access to American markets for its fish products.

Canada Customs And Revenue Agency Act  They are concerned about evolving into the kind of agency that we see in the United States with the IRS, the Internal Revenue Service, in terms of how that agency is out of control and is arm's length from the Government of the United States. The IRS, by the way, is still a government department in the United States.

Patent Act  I want the member to account for the decision by his own Minister of Industry in March 1998 to push through changes to the notice of compliance regulations, which actually evoked the ire of Canadians, health organizations and the generic drug industry. Those individuals and organizations were very concerned and went so far as to suggest that the Minister of Industry was doing nothing more than being a servant of foreign owned multinational drug companies.

Committees Of The House  In a very strident and stubborn way she has said that she refuses to take out those sections which attach controversy and raise the ire of many in the country. Therefore, she is willing to stand pat and let the entire legislation be deferred and stalled on the order paper until next fall. In plain speak, that is not good enough.

Standing Orders  It is an interesting position for me to be following the member for Waterloo—Wellington who regularly encounters considerable reaction from members of the House from all parties. He has been known to raise the ire of other members and tonight is no exception. Needless to say, I disagree vehemently with the tone, tenor and substance of the member's speech. I do not believe he has accurately represented the true nature of the debate and the issues at hand.

Supply  We are not to change the entire spirit and intent of the motion as the government is doing in the self-congratulatory way to which we are accustomed. The motion is very serious. It once again raises the ire of the government because of its sensitivity of the particular subject matter. This day we have embarked upon will be very important and very interesting as we delve into discussions of the Prime Minister's activities in the Auberge Grand-Mère situation.

Canada Customs And Revenue Agency Act  Provisions such as those proposed should therefore be directed specifically at that act and other similar statutes the agency would administer. Unlike the situation with the IRS, there will continue to be a minister of national revenue who will continue to be accountable to the public and in the House of Commons for all aspects of the agency's performance, including its fairness.

Canada Customs And Revenue Agency Act  We are willing to risk the downsides of this agency. We are willing to risk the creation of an IRS type of agency that can run rampant over Canadian taxpayers simply because we lack the intestinal fortitude and the creativity to create good labour relations within our own government”.

Division No. 298  It does not matter what we want to call this new superagency, it is going to be something that Canadians will not recognize and will not be comfortable with. Will it look like the IRS in the United States, a boondoggle like the IRS that answers to nobody? This is what we are saying. When we get that kind of independence, there is room for abuse. It is something that can grow out of control, beyond what it was initially designed for.

Taxation  Why does the minister not stop, take a minute and consult with Canadians before he makes a terrible mistake in adopting an unaccountable IRS style tax agency?

Canada Customs And Revenue Agency Act  My concern is that if we have this independent agency, which is really only accountable to the minister, what is the attitude going to be? Is it going to be like the IRS? It wanted to charge a young lad who happened to catch the baseball which Mark McGwire hit when he was building up his home run record. This young lad gave the baseball back to Mark McGwire, but the IRS actually talked about taxing him on the amount that baseball would have sold for on the open market.