Debates of Oct. 26th, 2009

Tax Harmonization

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the impact of the Conservative-Liberal HST scheme cannot be ignored. We already know that the HST will make it harder for families to afford after-school activities. Now we hear that it could affect children in the classroom.

School boards that are barely scraping by will face bigger budget challenges because the new tax raises their costs. Reports of possible fees for school buses, drastic schedule changes and job cuts for teachers and support staff have parents concerned.

Why is the government so eager to implement this damaging tax increase?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the implementation of harmonization of PST and GST schemes is the responsibility of the provinces. In this case, it is the province of British Columbia.

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this HST will cost some hard-working people their jobs. According to the Council of Tourism Associations of British Columbia, the new tax will likely see tourism spending drop by close to $500 million. As a result, more than 5,000 jobs could be lost.

When he was in opposition, the Prime Minister said that the HST would not help reverse Canada's economic decline.

Again, why is his government pushing a job killing tax onto B.C. and Ontario families?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, nothing has changed since the late 1980s and early 1990s. If and when a province chooses to harmonize, that province's legislature makes the decisions about how to implement it. It remains so today in Ontario and British Columbia and any other province that may choose in the future to harmonize their sales tax with the federal GST.

Pensions

[Luc Desnoyers, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois has recently been urging the federal government to help retired workers affected by their former employer's bankruptcy. The minister replied that retired workers are not the federal government's concern. Yet today we have learned that the government is thinking of introducing a bill to increase the threshold for pension plan contributions, as suggested by the Bloc Québécois.

My question is simple: does the minister also intend to take responsibility for federally regulated pension plans?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the opposition has come late to this discussion about pensions. In December of last year, we had the experts discussing this issue with the provincial and territorial ministers of finance.

We moved forward with solvency changes with respect to federally regulated pension plans in the spring of this year. My parliamentary secretary has conducted a vast consultation across the country, the result of which is some comprehensive reform to pensions that will be announced shortly, and there is more.

[Luc Desnoyers, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, although the government said last week that it was unable to take any action, it has decided to introduce a measure proposed by the Bloc Québécois.

I wonder if the Minister of Industry plans to take inspiration from any other measures proposed by the Bloc Québécois, such as lowering the threshold for automatic review of foreign acquisitions to $300 million, in order to ensure that businesses are not sold off at the expense of its retired workers.

What is the minister waiting for to assume his responsibilities and take a page from the Bloc Québécois' plan?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, there is more. Only 10% of pensions in this country are federally regulated, so we need to work in consultation with the provinces and territories, which is precisely what we are doing. We have a research working group created by the provinces, territories and federal government. We will be meeting again to review the results of that.

This is a serious issue. It is not to be dealt with on the back of an envelope or by a knee-jerk reaction. It needs to be dealt with collaboratively, intelligently and thoroughly by governments working together in Canada.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, many families have lost part of their retirement savings in this economic downturn. They are worried about the future and are looking to Ottawa for a national solution.

However, in four years the Conservative government has done little to improve pension management. We know that it broke its promise on income trusts. The Canadian Association of Retired Persons has accused the Conservatives of serial stalling.

The Liberal Party of Canada is responding today with a national pension forum. What will the government do to ensure that pensions are given the protection they deserve?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal opposition has been spending most of this year pushing for an unnecessary, unwanted election in this country and now, all of a sudden, it offers a knee-jerk reaction to a serious issue that has been going on for more than a year.

The Liberals' solution is to have a one-day meeting in Ottawa. This is their answer to a very serious problem for Canadian pensioners. We are not doing that. We are working with the provinces and territories. We are not doing the research and the study but not on the back of an envelope like the Liberal opposition.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after all that talking, I am looking forward to seeing some results.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, please. The hon. member for Westmount--Ville-Marie has the floor.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians fear for the security of their retirement and need to know that they are protected. This Conservative government has abandoned pensioners. It says that this is a provincial problem, but the truth is it is a national problem.

Why does the current government not agree to modernize the provisions of the bankruptcy legislation regarding pensioners, such as those from Nortel, in order to better protect Canadians in their retirement?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Finance has so ably pointed out, we have been ahead of the Liberal caucus, ahead of the official opposition in our consultations with Canadians and in our consultations with the provinces and territories, and that includes the bankruptcy and insolvency legislation.

If the hon. member has any scintilla of useful suggestions, instead of trying to force an unnecessary election, he should be our guest and tell us what they are. They might be part of the solution.

However, we are not here to force an unnecessary election. We are here to govern. That is what we are all about.

Financial Institutions

[Glenn Thibeault, NDP, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is the six month anniversary of the adoption by this House of our credit card motion. It mandated the government to introduce measures to protect consumers, as the Conservatives promised to do but never did. And, no, an information campaign does not protect consumers.

When will the government follow through on all of the elements of our motion and do something concrete to protect consumers instead of protecting its friends in the banking industry?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, again, I do not know where the member opposite has been this year.

In the economic action plan, we said that we would regulate in the area of credit cards. We said it, we studied it and we did it several months ago. If he would like to read the regulations, he will see that they are published and they are coming into force. They are very important in terms of transparency and rights for credit card holders and issuers, so that everyone understands what is happening.

There is more to come with respect to interchange fees relating to merchants.

[Glenn Thibeault, NDP, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister says that he will introduce a voluntary code of conduct to govern Visa's and MasterCard's entry into our $168 billion debit card market. That code will include the priority routing of transactions, which will shut out Canada's low cost debit network, Interac. Small and medium size businesses will end up paying more.

Why is the government catering to the interests of Visa and MasterCard instead of standing up for consumers and small businesses?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, as is our habit on this side of the House, unlike the other side of the House, we have actually been consulting with the consumer associations. We have been consulting with the stakeholders and the participants so that we get the results right, and we have spent a great deal of time on that.

The work has been done. The necessary coding is being drafted and will be released shortly.

Firearms Registry

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, on November 4, my private member's bill, Bill C-391, which will end the long gun registry, will be before this House for a vote at second reading. I hope members of the opposition who support ending the registry in their ridings will be here on November 4 to support this bill. It is time to end the wasteful and ineffective boondoggle of the long gun registry.

Could the Minister of Public Safety please tell this House why members of the opposition should support Bill C-391?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, our government has taken action to tackle criminals who use illegal handguns. Before that, however, the Liberals wasted $2 billion on an ineffective long gun registry that only served to criminalize law-abiding farmers and hunters.

Opposition members know that the long gun registry does not work and it is an unwanted intrusion into the lives of law-abiding citizens. A prominent politician once said:

I want to be in a party that respects the right of legitimate gun owners - it's an issue of freedom.

Who said that? It was the leader of the Liberal Party.

Let us get behind his call for freedom and abolish the ineffective long gun registry.

Pensions

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today, the Liberals are organizing a forum on pensions to gather ideas on how to protect the pensions and retirement savings of Canadians. We are determined to find new ways to provide Canadians with financial security and better protection for pensioners whose employer declares bankruptcy.

We know that the Conservative government always chooses politics over Canadians. Is it now in the process of abandoning pensioners?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, that is the point, precisely.

This is a very serious issue for seniors and pensioners in Canada. We had to deal with this as a government with respect to the Air Canada issue earlier this year and also with some other situations.

We do not deal with it in a one day meeting. We do not treat it lightly. We do not treat it frivolously. It is too important for Canadians and that is why we will study the issues hard this year, led by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last spring, Canada made the decision to require visas from citizens of the Czech Republic. That rather abrupt decision was received with disbelief and confusion. Now, the European Union is threatening Canada with retaliation if the visa requirement for one of its members is not dropped.

In light of these threats by the European Union, does Canada intend to remove this requirement for Czech nationals?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship]

Mr. Speaker, no, absolutely not.

We manage immigration policies in Canada according to the best interests of Canada. Ever since this government gave a visa exemption to the Czech Republic two years ago, we have received over 3,000 asylum seekers. It was the Government of Quebec that asked me to take action to protect the integrity of the Canadian asylum system and to defend taxpayers. It costs a lot of money to keep false asylum seekers. We are working together with the Czech authorities—