Debates of Nov. 25th, 2004

Citizenship and Immigration

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration there is an obligation, when people request assistance, for staff to meet with the individuals. That is exactly what the staff member did.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, everyone in this House and outside this House sees through that answer.

There is a letter to the editor where a Canadian immigrant writes the following:

--“special governmental treatment” used to happen in my home country... where money, power and connections used to be the only language of the day. I did not know that same thing happens in Canada too.

What message is the minister and the government sending to the hundreds of thousands of immigrants and Canadians who expect fair treatment and who play by the rules?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, again there are allegations being made in this House that are most unfortunate.

In fact, it is quite clear based on the words of individuals involved that there was no preferential treatment here. For example, the husband of one of the women involved made the following statement:

There was no preferential treatment, period. This is unfortunate for us and everyone else concerned because none of it's true.

In another quote:

Neither myself nor my husband...have ever spoken with Judy Sgro. There was...no commitment made--

[The Speaker]

The Deputy Prime Minister would want to set a good example and not refer to members by name, and instead by title.

[Diane Ablonczy, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, thousands of immigrants and their families are caught in the enormous immigration backlog. They and their MPs often cannot get a response from the minister. So imagine their shock to learn that the minister's most senior political assistant dropped what he was doing to travel to Toronto to personally meet with a strip club owner and discuss how the minister could help bring in more strippers.

Why on earth would the minister make that a priority?

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member I did not make it a priority.

As I said earlier, I have referred these matters to the Ethics Commissioner. Let us let him do his job and wait for his response.

[Diane Ablonczy, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister and her chief of staff gave special access to this campaign worker and to this strip club owner, access that so many others are denied.

Yet the minister says it is normal to have her chief of staff at the beck and call of a strip club owner wanting a special favour. Why has the minister not been asked to resign?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, let me reiterate that the allegations that are being thrown around here are completely unsubstantiated.

I have asked the hon. member and others in her party if they have evidence that supports these allegations, that they should table that evidence in this House.

We have an Ethics Commissioner who is at work. The Ethics Commissioner is looking at much of this. I think what is appropriate here is to let the Ethics Commissioner do his work. We will receive his report. That report will be made public.

Taxation

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a study released this morning by a professor from the Université du Quebec à Montreal confirms that Canada's big banks saved $10 billion in taxes over a 13-year period through 73 branches in tax havens. The Bloc Québécois has been denouncing this situation for 10 years.

How can the government accept that the provisions of the federal Income Tax Act, together with the tax convention with Barbados, allow the big banks to save billions of dollars, while ordinary citizens pay all their taxes here in Canada?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the study by the Université du Québec indicates that this is a very broad and complex issue involving a number of Canadian corporations doing business overseas.

The issue of international business taxation is a complicated one. We are developing our approach to this. I have indicated very clearly that we are looking particularly at those areas where there are ring fence regimes that are particularly odious. We want to move against them if we can.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is always quite complicated on that side when it comes to giving the public justice and treating everyone equally.

According to this study, in the first four years the banks saved $5.7 billion in taxes by using tax havens. Our own figures in the Bloc Québécois show that in eight years, Canadian investment in Barbados increased by 369%.

What is the government waiting for to change its tax rules that allow banks and other companies to shirk their fair share of the tax load?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, again I would point out to the hon. gentleman that the issue of international business corporations and international taxation is one that is before a number of countries around the world.

I am happy to tell him that just four days ago I engaged in a discussion on this very topic with the other member countries at the G-20 meeting in Berlin. We all are seeking effective tax regimes that avoid taxation abuses. We are working hard together to see what we can do in joint international action.

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government keeps saying that it is working against harmful tax practices both in international conventions and in the Income Tax Act, but the Prime Minister himself and his company, CSL, have profited greatly and continue to profit from such practices.

How does the government explain that in its fight against harmful tax practices it reduced by $400 million the budget for the revenue agency with the people who specialize in analyzing these transactions that allow banks and companies, such as the Prime Minister's CSL, to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes to the Canadian tax authorities?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. gentleman has a specific allegation to make, he should make it rather than veiled innuendoes and character assassinations and demeaning commentaries that have absolutely no basis in fact.

In fact the report today by the Université du Québec demonstrates the fallacy of this gentleman's argument.

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are not accusing anyone. We are condemning the immoral practices that the Prime Minister's family is currently benefiting from. That is what we are denouncing.

Why does the Minister of Finance not use the bill on tax conventions with countries, tabled recently, to fix the tax loopholes so that those who have to pay taxes pay their fair share like everyone else, including the Prime Minister of Canada?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. gentleman suggests that he is not making any allegations and then proceeds to make allegations. He has swallowed himself whole.

The Government of Canada is working on this issue in concert with other nations around the world. International concerted action is what is required here. It cannot be dealt with on a one off basis, and that is the forum in which we need to seek solutions.

That is why I have raised this at the International Monetary Fund, at the G-7 and at the G-20.

Hiv-Aids

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in the last election and over the last year the Prime Minister has said that Canada has a moral obligation to address the issue of AIDS in Africa. Yet not one pill, no medication, no drugs have flowed from Canada to Africa, and there is no sign on the horizon that there will be any action.

Big pharma refuses to reduce its prices. The generics do not have any incentive to actually produce these medications. Of course, 8,000 people a day are dying due to AIDS in Africa.

When will the first pills be delivered?

[David Emerson, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is right. The bill was passed in the last Parliament. The regulations have been drafted. They have been gazetted. We expect to hear back and complete the consultation period by mid-December. We expect the bill will be passed and proclaimed early in the new year. We will see how it goes at that point.

This government has committed $70 million to combat HIV-AIDS, TB and malaria and $100 million for the WHO three by five initiative to fight AIDS.

Canada-U.S. Relations

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it will be to Canada's shame if this turns out to be another Liberal broken promise.

My question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. A majority of Canadians do not share the values of President Bush. What we want to know is why the decision has been made not to ensure that members of Parliament have an opportunity to present their views to the president directly.

My question for the Deputy Prime Minister is, why will there be no opportunity provided, given that these values are having an effect here and around the world?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, President Bush has a very busy schedule while he is here. In fact, he and his officials will be meeting with the Prime Minister and a wide range of ministers on key issues, such as security.

Let me inform the hon. member, if he is not aware, that President Bush has decided not to speak here in the House of Commons. That was a decision made by the president and his staff. We extended that invitation and would have, I know, all of us, warmly received President Bush had he chosen to speak here.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Rahim Jaffer, Conservative, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the immigration minister said her chief of staff was only doing his job when he travelled to a strip club to discuss importing women into Canada who work as strippers. Meanwhile, over half a million legitimate immigrants languish in the queue while Mr. Wons enjoys his time out chilling at the club.

Does a legitimate applicant who has been waiting years to be processed have to own a strip club before the minister's right-hand man will pay a visit?

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated earlier, the Ethics Commissioner, a very competent independent officer of the House, will be reviewing these issues. We will await his report.

[Rahim Jaffer, Conservative, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Terry Koumoudouros, owner of the House of Lancaster strip club, has been a faithful donor to the Liberal Party of Canada, giving over $5,500 to Liberal candidates since they became government.

We know his intention was to get more strippers into Canada, circumventing our immigration laws. Was it the intention of the minister to send her chief of staff and campaign manager to solicit campaign contributions as a quid pro quo for her services?

[The Speaker]

I am afraid questions about electoral fundraising are not the administrative responsibility of the government in this House and therefore that question is out of order.

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Mr. Speaker, last week I asked the immigration minister why her former chief of staff was charging meals in Ottawa while really on a trip to Toronto. This week I checked the immigration department's website and found that the website had been altered and there was no reference to any trip to Toronto.

Why did the minister order this cover-up?