This bill is from the 42nd Parliament, 1st session, which ended in September 2019.
Defeated, as of May 29, 2019
(This bill did not become law.)
This is from the published bill.
This enactment amends the Canada Revenue Agency Act to require the Canada Revenue Agency to report on all convictions for tax evasion, including international tax evasion, and on the tax gap in the annual report it submits to the Minister of National Revenue for tabling in Parliament. It also requires the Minister to provide data on the tax gap to the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.
Bill numbers are reused for different bills each new session. Perhaps you were looking for one of these other S-243s:
Fairness for All Canadian Taxpayers ActPrivate Members' Business
The Deputy Speaker Bruce Stanton
The hon. member for Calgary Rocky Ridge has up to five minutes for his right of reply.
Fairness for All Canadian Taxpayers ActPrivate Members' Business
Conservative
Pat Kelly Conservative Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB
Mr. Speaker, it is a tremendous honour and privilege to sponsor a bill in this place.
First, I want to acknowledge and thank Senator Percy Downe for his passion on this issue and for obtaining unanimous support in the other place for the bill and giving me the opportunity to sponsor it in the House.
I want to thank my dear friends, the member for Edmonton Riverbend and the member for Calgary Nose Hill, for their speeches tonight. I also want to thank my friend, the member for Calgary Shepard, who spoke in the first hour of debate on the bill, and indeed the other members who spoke in support of the bill, in particular the member for Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, who spoke tonight, and the member for Sherbrooke, who spoke in the first hour. I would also like to thank the members for Châteauguay—Lacolle and Winnipeg North as well as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue, who also participated in the debate.
The bill would allow the Parliamentary Budget Officer to measure a problem that all parties acknowledge exists. As the member for Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques noted, the Auditor General has repeatedly called out the Canada Revenue Agency for not treating Canadians the same way it treats those who file taxes offshore.
When he said that, I was reminded that the CRA, in its self-audit, believed that its call centre was operating just fine. It took a report from the Auditor General to reveal that it was a complete disaster. Without giving the Parliamentary Budget Officer the tools it has asked for, we are asking it, with the misleading information the CRA hands over, to be the final word on the scope and scale of this problem. That is not acceptable. It is not good enough. It is not good enough for Canadians, and it is really just more of the same.
I take exception to the parliamentary secretary castigating my motives as a Conservative in bringing forward, under Private Members' Business, the bill. As was pointed out by the member for Calgary Nose Hill, she essentially said, “Shame on the Conservatives”. Because we did not do this for the 10 years we were in government, she said we should be ashamed for saying that this is important, even as the Liberals plan to vote against the bill. Only a Liberal could say this and not understand the hypocrisy and ridiculousness of that position.
I was not part of the former Parliament. However, despite the previous government's incredible track record and that Canadians are now yearning for a return to a Conservative government, I am comfortable admitting that not every single problem under the sun was solved during the 10 years of the Conservative government. Tens years was not long enough to undo everything done by the previous Liberal government. It was not long enough to solve every problem in the world.
All speakers on the Liberal side claimed to support the motivation behind the bill and claimed to care about the problem it would solve, yet they came up with excuse after excuse, which is all we heard in the parliamentary secretary's speech, for why we should not pass it and should not bother. Shame on the Liberals if, as has been indicated to me by the minister, they reject the bill tonight.
Again, I want to thank Percy Downe for his advocacy on this and thank all members who participated in the debate on the bill.
Fairness for All Canadian Taxpayers ActPrivate Members' Business
The Deputy Speaker Bruce Stanton
The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?
Fairness for All Canadian Taxpayers ActPrivate Members' Business
Some hon. members
Agreed.
No.
Fairness for All Canadian Taxpayers ActPrivate Members' Business
Fairness for All Canadian Taxpayers ActPrivate Members' Business
Some hon. members
Yea.
Fairness for All Canadian Taxpayers ActPrivate Members' Business
Fairness for All Canadian Taxpayers ActPrivate Members' Business
Some hon. members
Nay.
Fairness for All Canadian Taxpayers ActPrivate Members' Business
The Deputy Speaker Bruce Stanton
In my opinion the nays have it.
And five or more members having risen:
Pursuant to Standing Order 93, a recorded division stands deferred until Wednesday, May 29, immediately before the time provided for private members' business.
The House resumed from May 16 consideration of the motion that Bill S-243, An Act to amend the Canada Revenue Agency Act (reporting on unpaid income tax), be read the second time and referred to a committee.
Fairness for All Canadian Taxpayers ActPrivate Members' Business
The Speaker Geoff Regan
The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at second reading stage of Bill S-243 under Private Members' Business.
Fairness for All Canadian Taxpayers ActPrivate Members' Business