Debates of March 20th, 2013

Financial Institutions

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, there is another constituent who is upset about the finance minister throwing his weight around with lenders. He is from the Beauce. He is the Minister of State for Small Business.

Banks have been gouging small businesses on merchant fees for years. They have been gouging consumers with higher and higher interest rates. Why is the finance minister doing nothing about double-digit credit card rates while dictating higher mortgage rates for Canadian families?

Which minister has the Prime Minister's confidence: the Minister of State for Small Business or the Minister of Finance?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Once again, Mr. Speaker, in terms of the issue I just addressed, as we all know, interest rates for mortgages in this country are at their lowest level ever, historically, in this country under this government. At the same time, obviously, this government has made it clear that it wants to make sure that we take steps to make sure that the market rests stable and affordable for Canadian families well into the future.

Justice

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, more Conservative mismanagement was exposed today in a new report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer. Crime and justice costs are skyrocketing, while the crime rate was already dropping. This report proves that the Conservative crime agenda is more about photo ops and partisanship than about getting results. One does not draft laws just because one likes the photo ops.

Why is the government putting PR ahead of sound public safety policy?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as usual on this issue, it is a bunch of nonsense coming from the NDP. Our Conservative government makes no apologies for cracking down on crime. Since we have come to office, we have introduced 30 pieces of legislation aimed at keeping our streets and communities safe. What the NDP always misses on these things is that the cost of crime, for the most part, is borne by victims. That is the side the New Democrats are never on.

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the PBO will be happy that they agree with one of his reports.

I prefer not to be on the side of people like Bruce Carson, Peter Penashue, Patrick Brazeau, Pamela Wallin and Mike Duffy. Those are examples of people who do not respect the law.

The crime rate is dropping steadily, a trend that started long before the Conservatives came to power. Yet the cost of the Conservatives' law and order agenda has been steadily rising since 2006. What is worse, the Conservatives are not the ones footing the bill; it is the provinces and territories. They are the ones getting stuck with three-quarters of the justice costs—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Gatineau is out of time.

The hon. Minister of Justice.

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, let us decide who is on whose side. A couple of weeks ago, the Prime Minister left Ottawa to visit Vancouver and he met with victims. Last week, the leader of the NDP left Ottawa to visit Washington and he got together with a convicted criminal. I and most Canadians are on the side of the Prime Minister, and that is the way it should be.

Ethics

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the victims of the latest Conservative crime are the people of Labrador. Those are the victims we need to stand up for.

It is now clear that there was a completely “orchestrated from central casting” resignation by the minister. Peter Penashue held press conferences. He used government money to hold press conferences. He placed ads. The Conservative Party transferred money to the riding association in Labrador. The entire thing was orchestrated by the Prime Minister of Canada and orchestrated by the Conservative Party of Canada.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Labrador has taken the correct action. The people of Labrador will decide. They will have the difference between that kind of negative ugly campaign and, on the other side, a record of positive achievement for the people of Labrador by minister Penashue. Obviously, we will respect the decision of the people of Labrador.

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister wants to see ugly, he and his cabinet colleagues should simply look in the mirror and assess their own conduct—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please.

I do not think we need to make those kinds of personal characterizations. It is certainly not adding to the debate today.

The hon. member for Toronto Centre has the floor.

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if looking in the mirror produces unacceptable results, it is hardly the fault of the people who are asking the questions.

Let us be clear. This is about the rule of law. This is about the rule of law with respect to Elections Canada. This is with respect to somebody who is currently under investigation by Elections Canada carrying out a political campaign financed by the Government of Canada and financed by the Conservative Party. That is the—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please.

The Right Hon. Prime Minister.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I think the real problem is the positions that the Liberal Party of Canada has on issues that matter to the people of Labrador. The people of Labrador value the seal hunt; they value investments in their infrastructure and in their Internet; and they certainly value the Lower Churchill hydroelectric project. These are all positive achievements by the member for Labrador, by minister Penashue, who has worked very hard and fulfilled his campaign commitments to those people.

Financial Institutions

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Competition Act is clear: it is against the law to conspire to maintain prices, or in the words of the member for Beauce, to set prices. It is against the law for financial institutions to make such arrangements.

Why does the Prime Minister tolerate such action from his Minister of Finance?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I just said, the reality is that mortgage rates are at their lowest historical levels in Canada. The reality is that there are problems in the mortgage and banking sectors around the world.

Our government is taking action to make sure that these sectors remain affordable and stable for Canadian families well into the future.

The Budget

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about budget transparency and fiscal accountability.

Almost a year after the 2012 budget, Conservatives still have not given clear answers about which regions of the country will lose federal jobs or what services are going to be cut. Canadians deserve to know the truth about the government's plans.

In the name of honesty, in the name of fiscal transparency, would the finance minister now agree to lay out the specifics about job cuts and services that he is planning to eliminate in tomorrow's budget?

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Minister of State (Finance)]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the hon. member actually seems to know what is in tomorrow's budget. We only have one more sleep until the budget is tabled in this House, but the Minister of Finance has done a good job of laying out what it will be and what it will not be. More importantly, what it will not be is increasing taxes on Canadians like the New Democrats would want to do with their $56 billion tax hike on Canadians and a $21 billion carbon tax. I can guarantee this entire House that will not be part of the budget.

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we take no lessons from that party on fiscal accountability. Even the Minister of Finance's own cabinet colleague is now criticizing his inappropriate calls to private banks. The minister once boasted he would never run a deficit, and then added over $120 billion to Canada's debt. Now, the Conservatives are hiding the details about planned cuts to food safety, VIA Rail and Service Canada. Whatever happened to fiscal accountability? Why are the Conservatives hiding the truth from Canadians about their planned cuts?

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Minister of State (Finance)]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the hon. member actually talks about a plan. Let me talk about the anti-job plan that the New Democrats talked about earlier in the week. This would be the one that the official spokesperson for the NDP, when asked what would be in this and whether it is actually costed, said, “I'm not going to...say” there is a price tag “because I think it's a shift in approach...”. “We have not costed [our] specifics in terms of this campaign”.

As the Minister of Finance said, we will actually have numbers in our budget.

Taxation

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are so afraid of divulging information about public finances that they did not even bother to measure the revenue shortfall created by tax evasion.

Given all the cuts they are making to the Canada Revenue Agency, it does not really seem as though they are taking this problem seriously. Enormous amounts of money are slipping through the government's fingers, amounts that could be invested in revitalizing the manufacturing industry, for example. For seven years now, the Conservatives have failed to deliver when it comes to cracking down on tax havens.

Will they finally follow the lead of the other major economies and implement a procedure to measure exactly how much tax evasion is costing us?

[Gail Shea, Conservative, Minister of National Revenue and Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, this is all the information we have received and we take this issue very seriously. We have increased our experts in this file by 40%. Tax evasion is an international problem and Canada works very closely with our partners to share information and best practices.

If the New Democrats are so concerned with tax evasion, perhaps it is an issue the NDP leader could have raised during his trip to the United States instead of visiting with convicted cop shooters and bashing Canadian interests.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that does not cut it.

Canada Revenue Agency employees told us that the decision not to measure the revenue shortfall was a political one.

Not only are the Conservatives cutting billions of dollars without even thinking about an impact study, but they are even going so far as to refuse to share information about these cuts with the Parliamentary Budget Officer, a position that they themselves created. Every time something goes wrong with one of their portfolios—as with the F-35s, for example—they are quick to refuse to send the PBO the documents he requires. The PBO then has no choice but to take the Conservatives to court so that he can do his job. And what a coincidence that the PBO's court case opens tomorrow, on the very day that the budget is being tabled.

Can the Conservatives promise that, this time, all the relevant information will be shared with the Parliamentary—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. Minister of State for Finance.