Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak to Bill S-2. The previous speaker brought up the subject of the disability tax credit and I am glad he did. I had not thought to raise that issue in my remarks, but I will do that now. I have raised the issue in the House several times and I have been very troubled with the way in which some of my specific constituents have been dealt with.
Last night the Minister of National Revenue spent a long time helping me go through the system. I very much appreciate her taking the time to do that. I am still just as concerned as I was before, but I have a much better understanding of the process. She was very good to have spent the time with my staff and me to help us understand why this review happened, why the changes are there and what the philosophy is behind them. I would like to extend my appreciation to the minister for that.
In those discussions last night I talked about two people in my riding who had been receiving the disability tax credit for some time and then had it cancelled. One is Don Pryor, a man who was run over by a train. His leg was amputated and his internal organs were damaged. He has gone through a great deal of grief and pain since I think 1979. He was receiving the disability tax credit and then with this new review, it was taken away after all that time.
Obviously he still does not have his leg and suffers from all the injuries, but he has been denied his tax credit. We will to appeal it once again, as the minister instructed, and hopefully we will have it reinstated. That is an example of the shock that hits people on this issue.
Again, I want to thank the minister for taking the time last night to help me with this. I really do appreciate it. It was very helpful. Perhaps if we all had access to that, we could understand what is happening and we could help people with disabilities through this very troubling program.
My staff and I came away from that meeting much more informed and better prepared to help because we all care about disabled people. We all have them in our ridings. They are all coming to our doors with these situations. It is much more than just a review to them. It is almost intimidation by big government. They are afraid in some cases to even fill out the form and return it. They go to their doctors and the doctors are sometimes not cooperative. The forms that are filled out are supposed to be free but now some doctors find it necessary to charge for them. There are a lot of questions and it is very complicated for people with disabilities.
I never had a lot to do with people with disabilities until I came to Parliament. Now it is very much a part of my job because of the hurdles thrown in the paths of people with disabilities at every turn. Whether it is a disabled person applying for Canada pension or simply trying to find ways to afford to put a ramp into a house or to change the facilities in a house or receiving the disability tax credit, it is very complicated for that person.
In my view it results in many cases with people with physical disabilities ending up with very troubled emotional situations because they have lost their ability to contribute in some cases. They have lost their ability to support their families in some cases. What starts off as an emotional disability ends up as a financial disability because they cannot work, they cannot earn a living like they used to, they cannot join the workforce and the hope for promotions and recognition for the good jobs they have done is gone.
When someone is totally disabled, it has a big impact on them, much more than just a physical disability. I have learned to appreciate that from meeting some of the people with disabilities. I admire them for handling their situations.
I have a letter from a Mr. Sherman Bent. This man is incredible. He was a hard worker all of his life. He never had a day off in his entire life until he was diagnosed with a very serious cancer. He went through a full year of chemotherapy, which did not work. Then he had to go through a bone marrow transplant. That left him without 80% of his vision in one eye and 50% in the other. He is pretty much confined to a wheelchair. He requires help to do everything in his normal life that people without disabilities can do and not even think about it.
He applied for the disability tax credit some time ago and received it. Then this year he has been denied it even though he is totally disabled. As instructed by the minister, I will help Mr. Sherman Bent appeal this. I believe by any standards he should receive it and I will stay with it until he does. It is a big issue for all of us.
I would say that perhaps the case was not handled the way it should have been. Considering how serious it is to these people, perhaps we should all go back, take a look at this and try to learn more about it, which is what I did last night. It will change how we handle it.
I will move on to the subject at hand, which is what I am supposed to be talking about, Bill S-2. It just makes common sense to enter into treaties with other countries so that we can share information and make sure there is not double taxation. This came very close to home for me a couple of years ago.
Before a friend of mine moved to Bermuda he got all the rules and regulations from the tax department. As he was told by the tax department, he sold his house and completely transferred his whole life to Bermuda. He had a three year contract and is a professional. He did everything he could to avoid double taxation. He followed the rules exactly.
What happened was that a situation happened in his family. He thought it would be better if he came back to Canada before his three year contract was up. Of course that triggered a nightmare from the tax department because Bermuda charged him tax and Canada charged him tax. He had gone through this whole thing for nothing. He had sold his house and had taken all the steps that the tax department told him to, but because his circumstances changed it placed a great burden on him. It took a long time for him to sort it out.
I understand what double taxation can do. This was a Canadian who had gone to Bermuda to do a professional job. He ended up being audited by Revenue Canada when he came back and it determined that he owed a lot of tax money on which he already had paid tax in Bermuda. Again he had gone through the painful ordeal of selling his house, moving his family and completely uprooting himself exactly according to the instructions.
It can be very troubling when someone from another country comes to Canada or someone from Canada goes to another country and has to face this double taxation. This convention will help eliminate that.
The convention would actually ratify treaties with Kuwait, Mongolia, the United Arab Emirates and Moldova, but it would also correct treaties with Norway, Belgium and Italy, and some technical aspects of the treaties with Vietnam, Portugal and Senegal. It now means that Canada has negotiated tax treaties with 80 countries so that if Canadians do move to another country they will at least have a chance under these treaties not to be double taxed .
Unfortunately, every country has a different regime for taxation. Some have capital gains and some do not. Some have income tax and some do not, and so on, but at least now they will have some protection against double taxation. It should also facilitate investment from country to country, which is necessary for us all to grow and get the maximum benefit from the global economy.
The second purpose of the bill is to avoid tax evasion by people who go from country to country and try to break the rules. All of us as members of Parliament know that if the government establishes a set of rules, it does not matter whether it is a disability tax credit or fisheries, there are always some people who try to get around the rules. By previously allowing people to go from one country to another, and there was no sharing of information, the people who wanted to break the rules and take advantage of loopholes were able to do so. Perhaps this will avoid those infractions of our taxation rules. Perhaps it will ensure that Revenue Canada gets the taxation revenue to which it is entitled.
I will be supporting the bill. It is a timely bill and it would increase our participation in the global economy. It would make it easier for Canadians to participate and exercise their rights to travel and work in other countries.