Debates of May 1st, 2013

Government Expenditures

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General said the complete opposite.

He said: “We didn’t find anything that gave us cause for concern that the money...was used in any way that it should not have been.” This is a matter of clarity and analysis. The Treasury Board accepted the Auditor General's recommendations for its future reports.

[Nycole Turmel, NDP, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are not talking about the $50 million slush fund for the President of the Treasury Board's gazebos. We are talking about $3.1 billion.

When the Liberals lost track of a billion dollars at HRDC, the current Minister of National Defence said that the situation was extremely serious and that it warranted an investigation.

Can the Prime Minister confirm that he has the same ethical standards as he did then and will he immediately announce an investigation?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as the Auditor General said, no money is missing or lost. Quite the opposite is true.

The issue here is the clarity of certain analyses, and the Treasury Board has accepted the Auditor General's recommendations.

The Economy

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's answers yesterday clearly demonstrated just how out of touch he is with the needs of middle-class Canadians.

Not only does he not have a plan, but he does not even understand that Canada needs a plan.

Median household incomes have flatlined. The only thing rising faster than the cost of education and child care is personal debt.

When will the Prime Minister understand that his apathy and his failure to act on behalf of our country are affecting Canadian families?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, Canada's record is better than virtually every other country in the developed world when it comes to job creation, economic growth since the recession and the position of our middle class.

Of course we can always do more. We have presented measures here in the House, such as our economic action plan 2013, that have the broad support of Canadians and economic stakeholders.

I encourage the Liberal Party to do something positive and support those measures.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has spent too much time walled off from Canadians. He needs to listen more so that he can learn about the challenges facing—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. member for Papineau has the floor.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister needs to listen more so he can learn about the challenges facing the middle class. Since 2006, our economy has grown, on average, a mediocre 1.5% per year. The forecast for this current year: 1.5%. Not since R.B. Bennett was in power in the 1930s have we seen numbers this bad for a prime minister.

Without a stronger middle class, we will not see robust growth, yet the budget did not even acknowledge the problem. Why not?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am listening very carefully to the leader of the Liberal Party, and I am hearing nothing of substance whatsoever. What I do know, and what Canadians know, is this country, Canada, has one of the absolute best records in the world coming out of the recession, and as the OECD has said, is one of the best prospects for the 50 years to come.

There are concrete, specific, substantive measures before the House the Liberal Party should think about supporting for a change: the Canada job grant, the advanced manufacturing fund, the hiring credit for small business, opportunities for apprentices. I could go on and on. Let us have the Liberal Party get some substance, get onside, and help us get things done.

Taxation

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have met more Canadians in the past six months than the Prime Minister has in the past six years. He really needs to get out more.

The Conservatives know very well that their higher tariffs will reduce competitiveness, kill jobs and hurt Canadian consumers.

Will the Prime Minister finally do something to help the middle class and cancel his new $330 million tax?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party's position is to oppose tariff reductions for Canadian consumers, while supporting special tariff reductions for Chinese companies. Their policy makes no sense at all.

That is why, here on this side of the House, we support tax cuts for all Canadians.

Government Expenditures

[Malcolm Allen, NDP, Welland, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the President of the Treasury Board claims the missing money can be found in public accounts, but the truth is, it cannot be found in public accounts. It was not presented to cabinet. It never came before Parliament, and it was hidden from Canadians.

When the Liberals lost track of $1 billion, the opposition Conservatives howled with great disdain, yet the President of the Treasury Board continues to pretend that he was not at fault. When will he admit that he has lost track of $3 billion Canadian?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is absolutely incorrect. I will quote, again, from the Auditor General. Just yesterday, he said:

We didn't find anything that gave us cause for concern that the money was used in any way that it should not have been.

That is from the Auditor General.

The matter relates to the categorization of expenses by the Treasury Board between 2001 and 2009. All of the funds in question are accounted for in the public accounts that are tabled before this chamber each and every year. There is no indication that any dollars are missing. We accept the Auditor General's recommendations, and we will move forward on that basis.

[Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, NDP, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that someone, somewhere, entered $3.1 billion in the wrong column in an Excel spreadsheet, but we are not supposed to worry about it because the money was undoubtedly well spent. Is that correct?

If we do not know where the money is, how can we be sure it was spent appropriately? That makes me think of a famous quote: “All of this sounds very familiar. The government denied the billion dollar boondoggle at HRDC...” Who said that? The current Prime Minister in 2002.

The Conservatives were outraged that the Liberals lost a billion dollars, but they have lost three times as much. Why is that not outrageous to them?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, that is completely false. The matter in question has to do with the categorization of expenses by the Treasury Board between 2001 and 2009. All of the funds in question are accounted for in the public documents, including the public accounts, that are tabled in Parliament. There is no indication that the funds are missing or were misappropriated or misspent.

Health Canada

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is ironic. When they were in opposition, they sure wanted to know what happened to the money then.

The Auditor General has also raised the alarm about Health Canada's pathetic efforts to prevent and control diabetes. Health Canada has “no strategy, priorities, deliverables, or timelines...and no performance measures”. To add insult to injury, 30% of the program costs went to administration.

How does the minister explain this abysmal failure?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we have implemented or are in the process of implementing all the recommendations in the report. Prevention is critical when it comes to tackling diabetes. Our government invests in community-based programs, such as the Canada prenatal nutrition program, aboriginal head start, and nutrition north Canada, to promote nutrition and improve access to healthy, traditional and store-bought food.

I announced $25 million over 10 years for four pathways to health equity for aboriginal people, which look at obesity and other chronic diseases to improve the health outcomes for aboriginal peoples.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development needs to stop getting so worked up every time I ask him questions. I will give him another chance today.

The Auditor General was very critical of the minister's failure to work with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Yet the minister knows that we all need to travel the path of reconciliation together.

The commission has 15 months left to finish its work.

I will ask the minister again today if he will stop stonewalling and give the commission the documents it needs.

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, the member will be quite pleased to know that we have tabled, returned and given the commission more than 3.5 million documents. That process began long ago and it is continuing.

As I said yesterday, we are determined to reach a fair and lasting settlement, and Canada will comply fully with the Indian residential schools settlement agreement.

Canada Revenue Agency

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, they are doing everything they can to keep the Truth and Reconciliation Commission from doing its work but nothing to recover money associated with tax evasion.

The Conservatives are sitting on $29 billion in unpaid taxes. Instead of allocating the resources needed to recover this money, they are cutting CRA's budget. Nothing they have done since coming to power has yielded any results.

What real plan do they have to recover the money?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General was very clear and stated that the improvements the Canada Revenue Agency has made have resulted in a significant increase in the amount of tax debt being collected. We accept all of the Auditor General's most recent recommendations, and we have already taken action on the recommendations, including measures to ensure that tax debts do not expire.

Our economic action plan proposes a number of measures to close tax loopholes, address aggressive tax planning and crack down on international tax evasion, and we will be happy to see the opposition vote for it.

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about almost $30 billion in uncollected taxes, and all we hear from this minister is self-congratulation. Her own plan cut $68 million from the accounts receivable and returns compliance department alone.

How can the government make these cuts, when there is $29 billion in uncollected tax debt? Then there are the billions of dollars in tax havens, which the Conservatives are taking baby steps to go after.

When will the government listen to the Auditor General and get serious about tax collection?

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

Mr. Speaker, since 2006, our government has introduced over 75 measures to improve the integrity of the tax system. The NDP voted against all of those.

The Auditor General was clear and has stated that the improvements that have been made at the Canada Revenue Agency have resulted in a significant increase in the amount of tax debt collected. In the fiscal year 2011-12 alone, the CRA recovered over $40 billion in tax debt.

Search and Rescue

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, they are unable to recover the money lost to tax evasion and meanwhile, they are cutting public services such as the Quebec City marine rescue sub-centre.

Yesterday, the Auditor General confirmed the NDP's fears about the centre's closure. Closing this centre could have tragic consequences. It will put Canadians' lives in danger.

The Auditor General has said it. The Commissioner of Official Languages has said it. Even the Conservative association in Lévis—Bellechasse has said it. What more will it take? Will the Queen have to get involved?