Rouge National Urban Park Act  This bill will remedy mistakes made in the past by the Conservatives, who haphazardly introduced a bill without consulting their provincial colleagues, in particular their Ontario colleagues, and without adequate consultation of environmental groups. This earned the ire and indignation of these groups and of the province. However, it did result in the creation of the Rouge Park, but it was not enough to allow us to address our needs and create a national urban park worthy of its designation.

Information & Ethics committee  Federal-provincial information sharing takes place all the time, as it does internationally between CRA and the IRS in the United States. Increasingly, we're seeing that sort of stuff. There should be a decision-making framework on what's in, what's out, what's okay, and what's a consistent use, thinking of why the information was collected in the first place.

Information & Ethics committee  These questions included the number of accounts under $50,000 U.S. they have received and transferred, clarification on how threshold exemptions are applied, clarification with regard to the level of review the CRA performs on records that are transferred to the IRS, and notification of how many records it received from the IRS about Canadian persons. We've also requested clarification as to why the first round of records sent to the IRS was larger than originally estimated.

Information & Ethics committee  It is important to mention that, following our submission to the OPC, none of their recommendations suggested that we were not to share this information last September. The next annual transfer of records with the IRS is scheduled for September 30, 2016. I want to reassure Canadians that all tax treaties and exchanges of information are subject to strict confidentiality requirements. Mr. Chair, this is a priority for our government.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With respect to the September 2015 announcement of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) that it would effectuate a transfer of information to the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS): (a) how many records has the CRA transferred to the IRS to date; (b) on what dates did information transfer occur and how many records were transferred on each date; (c) how many records of individuals have been transferred in total; (d) by what means were the records transferred; (e) how much did it cost the CRA to compile the records for transfer; (f) how much did it cost the CRA to complete the transfer; (g) how were the costs in (e) and (f) calculated and what is the breakdown of those costs; (h) who made the decision to transfer the records; (i) when was the decision made to transfer records; (j) when did the CRA become aware that the U.S.

Electoral Reform committee  The other was the proposal to increase the size of the legislature simply to restore the size that it had prior to Mike Harris and the Progressive Conservative government that was elected in 1995. That proposal raised the ire of a lot of voters. If I were to rewrite or amend the 2004 report, I would try to ensure that these lists we're selecting from are in the most open fashion possible, either in the form of completely open lists where the voter can tick beside whatever list candidate they would want to support or even—why not?

Information & Ethics committee  What remedies or recourse do Canadians, whose information has been shared with the IRS under the IGA, have if the IRS breaches their privacy through improper disclosure? Is there any remedy or recourse available to Canadians?

Information & Ethics committee  Canadian financial institutions normally would have to keep the information of their clients secret, but the arrangement provides the legal basis for them to share information with the CRA with a view to sharing it with the IRS. If there is something wrong, and if there's oversharing of information, PIPEDA would be a ground to invoke. In terms of oversharing by the CRA to the IRS, the Privacy Act could be invoked.

Information & Ethics committee  I would like to go back to the commissioner’s assessments. On February 10, 2016, Forbes magazine reported that 700,000 IRS files, files of American citizens, but of Canadian citizens too, had been hacked. The IRS has major and recurrent problems in terms of the confidentiality of information. Some came to light recently.

Finance committee  Chamberlain, you mentioned tax products in the U.S. having to be vetted and registered. Does that also come with somewhat of an audit and access to, in that case, the IRS in the sense that it's one thing to vet and register, but someone also has to regulate and audit, and the fact that whatever has been registered is actually what is being offered and not just some version of it, which I assume would provide some access?

Finance committee  In any event, the reason the Americans were successful is because one banker was paid a reported $100 million by the IRS to assist with the investigation, and that led to billions of dollars of deferred-prosecution fines by the U.S. Department of Justice. It's just one example of how successful the whistle-blower program can be.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to the exchange of information between Canada and the United States (US) under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA): (a) how many individuals were reported, in total and broken down by (i) Canadian citizens, (ii) permanent residents of Canada, (iii) temporary residents of Canada; (b) how many individuals were reported, broken down by (i) individuals with Canadian addresses, (ii) individuals with US addresses, (iii) individuals with addresses in other countries; (c) how many accounts were reported, in total and broken down by (i) bank accounts, (ii) credit union accounts, (iii) investment accounts, (iv) insurance accounts, (v) other types of accounts; (d) with respect to (c)(iii), what types of insurance accounts were reported; (e) with respect to (c)(v), what other types of accounts were reported; (f) of the accounts reported, how many were (i) under $50,000 US, (ii) between $50,000 and $1,000,000 US, (iii) over $1,000,000 US; (g) of the accounts reported, how many were (i) Registered Retirement Savings Account accounts, (ii) Registered Education Savings Account accounts, (iii) Registered Disability Savings Account accounts, (iv) Tax Free Savings Account accounts; (h) of the accounts reported, how many were held jointly with one or more non US persons, broken down by type of account and indicating the type of relationship between the joint account holder and the US person, if it is known; (i) how many accounts of organizations were reported to the IRS because a US person had signing authority, interest in, or other connection to the organization; (j) of the accounts that were reported, how many were (i) business accounts, (ii) professional accounts, (iii) charitable or non-profit organization accounts, (iv) connected to other organizations, broken down by type of organization; (k) what agency, organization, and individuals was the information provided to; (l) what measures were taken to ensure this information will not be provided to any other agency, organization, and individuals; (m) what measures were taken to ensure that information transmitted will not be subject to identity theft, fraud, other criminal activities, or breach of privacy; (n) how many records did Canada receive from the US, in total and broken down by (i) individuals who live in Canada, (ii) individuals who live in the US, (iii) individuals who live in other countries, broken down by country; (o) how many accounts did Canada receive information about; (p) what type of information was in the records Canada received; (q) did Canada receive information regarding (i) income from the accounts, (ii) total assets in accounts, (iii) account balances, (iv) transactions, deposits and withdrawals, (v) account numbers, (vi) names of account holders, (vii) Social Insurance Numbers, (viii) other related information; (r) what type of information did Canada receive that was not provided by the US prior to the FATCA Intergovernmental Agreement; and (s) when did Canada receive the information?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The brighter futures, building healthy communities program, available to all first nations and Inuit communities, supports improved mental health, child development, parenting skills, healthy babies, injury prevention, and response to mental health crisis, depending on community needs. The IRS resolution health support program provides cultural, paraprofessional, and professional supports to eligible former students, their families, and communities. The national native alcohol and drug abuse program and the national youth solvent abuse program include funding for 43 first nations addiction treatment centres and community-based prevention programs that respond to substance abuse.

Agriculture committee  When the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Pest Management Centre was created, it was in large part due to industry's need to replicate and implement in Canada an infrastructure similar to that of U.S. interregional project number 4, or IR-4. Today, thanks to support and collaboration, the Pest Management Centre is the envy of our competitors in many countries. The Pest Management Centre and the dispute resolution corporation are two highly successful legacies of leadership and collaboration.

Finance committee  What's important for me, with the Canada Revenue Agency, is that if we do this, we do it well. I've certainly discussed it with the IRS, and I've discussed with the United Kingdom their approaches. There are areas that are relatively straightforward, and there are areas that are very difficult. I want us to do this in a way that is open and transparent, but in a way that educates Canadians so that these numbers have meaning to them.