Finance Committee on Dec. 11th, 2018

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Many discussions are taking place at the same time; I understand why it's hard to hear me.

Can you reassure the committee that the measures you've just taken to deal with the tax frauds named in the Panama Papers are unusual?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

Yes, indeed. I want to remind everyone here that Jean-Pierre Blackburn, a Conservative who was Minister of National Revenue, said that efforts to counter tax evasion were not a priority for the Conservatives when they were in power.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

I have just been informed that the minister will be violating the committee's request to stay for an hour. She will be running out the door in order to avoid tough questions on the Auditor General's report. That she has said she is just being informed now is quite astounding. The minister, having received a damning report demonstrating her personal incompetence and failure—

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

I don't think that's a point of order, Pierre.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

—will be heading for the hills and avoiding tough questioning—

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

I don't think it's fair—

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

—in just a few moments.

If I could just finish, Mr. Chair, it is my point of order.

These are important questions to which the minister is accountable to Parliament. We have a report here that says, if the agency asked an individual to provide a receipt to support a claimed expense and the taxpayer did not provide that receipt within 90 days, the agency would automatically disallow the expense of an eligible income tax deduction.

By contrast—

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

I think your point of order—

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Actually, my point of order is very much in order, and I do have the floor.

In contrast, for those with offshore transactions, it goes on—for example, banks and foreign countries—they could take months to provide information to the taxpayer's offshore transactions to the agency or the taxpayer.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Mr. Poilievre, your point of order was on the time of the minister. You're getting into the Auditor General's report.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

You're right, and if I could conclude, Mr. Chair—

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

We did include the minister, and it said on the agenda—

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Chair—

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

It said on the agenda—

Hold on; I'll give you time.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

It said on the agenda 8:15 to 8:45 for the minister. The minister agreed to stay until 8:50. She has a cabinet meeting. You understand that, when you have a cabinet meeting called—you were a cabinet minister—you have to go.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

I understand. You said I was going to get a chance to speak.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

The commissioner of the agency is here until 10:15.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

There will be appropriate time. We always have the opportunity to call the minister back again.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

What I understand about being a minister is that ministers are actually accountable to committees, unless they have something to hide or are unable to answer questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

That's—

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

No, excuse me.

We have a report from the Auditor General, who is an officer of Parliament. It is our duty to ask questions about this report. All this minister has been able to do is read a few PMO talking points before running out the door, avoiding any questions about the report itself.

You, Mr. Chair, have allowed that to happen, just as you have done repeatedly with other ministers, when you have stepped in to protect them against answering tough questions on behalf of taxpayers.

Our duty here is to ask questions about this report, so I ask the minister if she will do her duty and stay here for an hour, just as this committee—with a Liberal majority—asked her to do. Will she honour the request of the committee and stay for an hour, yes or no?

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

The minister has a cabinet meeting to go to.

Minister, you have to go to a cabinet meeting, I understand.

When we set out the agenda, we outlined in the agenda that we would only have half an hour with the minister due to that fact.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

I think she's going to agree to stay for an hour.