House of Commons Hansard #45 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was medical.
Carolyn Bennett LiberalMinister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs
Madam Speaker, this government did not sign an agreement. The agreement was signed on October 30, five days before the new government took office.
We believe the Catholic church and only the Catholic church can achieve its own reconciliation with indigenous people in our country. We are urging it to do the right thing, pay the money that it promised to pay. It has a moral obligation to do this for the healing of indigenous people.
In clarification, the Prime Minister—
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Madam Speaker, clause 34 of this week's budget bill raises the tax rate on small businesses by a half point, a point, and a point and a half over the next three respective years. This contradicts the Liberal platform and the Prime Minister's mandate letter to his minister to maintain the low 9% rate that the previous Conservative government had enacted.
Would the Liberals entertain a friendly amendment, which would use wording right out of their election platform, to keep the rate low at 9% so our job creators can flourish and hire more Canadians?
François-Philippe Champagne LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance
Madam Speaker, let us be clear once and for all on this issue. The tax rate for small businesses went from 11% to 10.5% as of January 1, 2016. Those are the facts.
What Canadian businesses need is a strong economy, and it is exactly what budget 2016 would do. We are investing in infrastructure. We are investing in innovation. We are investing in clean tech. Canadian businesses are going to benefit from this budget, and Canadian families as well.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Madam Speaker, the lower tax rate for small businesses had already been put in place by the previous Conservative government. The Liberals did nothing to make that happen. On the contrary, they introduced a bill this week that will raise the small business tax rate by 1.5% over the next three years. This goes against their own election platform.
Would they agree to an amendment to implement their own election platform and allow our small businesses to keep more of their own money?
François-Philippe Champagne LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance
Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question.
Let us get the facts straight on this. The tax rate for small businesses went from 11% to 10.5% in January 2016. Our commitment during the election campaign was to invest in the Canadian economy specifically to benefit small businesses, Canadian families, and the middle class.
That is exactly what we did in budget 2016 and exactly what we will continue to do.
Matt Jeneroux Conservative Edmonton Riverbend, AB
Madam Speaker, let me re-establish the facts. Every time we turn around, the Liberals are destroying opportunities for job creators. The Liberals are knee-capping the clean technology sector by eliminating the hiring credit for small businesses. This tax credit helps small companies hire the people they need to develop clean technologies and bring those clean technologies to market. Under the Conservatives, this sector saw consistent growth.
Why do the Liberals believe this tax is a great idea even though it is killing the sector they so eagerly pretend to support?
François-Philippe Champagne LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance
Madam Speaker, I would invite my hon. colleague to read the entire budget. What we have done is historic. We are investing $1 billion in clean tech across the country to ensure we can invest in innovation and new technology. That is what Canadians wanted; that is what we are delivering.
Tom Kmiec Conservative Calgary Shepard, AB
Madam Speaker, business professionals are worried about the Liberal tax hikes on small professional corporations. Dr. Melanie, a physician in my riding, has said that these tax changes would mean less clinical hours in the community. That means less front-line health services.
The Prime Minister thinks small businesses are just ways for wealthier Canadians to avoid taxes. Dr. Melanie is a hard-working GP serving her community, not a wealthy tax dodger.
When are the Liberals going to shelve these tax hikes and stop punishing hard-working doctors like Dr. Melanie?
Bardish Chagger LiberalMinister of Small Business and Tourism
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member opposite for reminding Canadians and all members in the House that this budget is squarely focused on revitalizing the Canadian economy, and that is what small businesses need most.
We are engaging with small businesses and with Canadians. Our investments in budget 2016 will grow the economy. Increased economic growth is good and it is better for businesses. More orders and more sales mean better business. Our small business owners will be—
Murray Rankin NDP Victoria, BC
Madam Speaker, yesterday a new report from the parliamentary budget officer highlighted the lack of a national strategy for dealing with greenhouse gas emissions and how our current approach is going to cost us all dearly.
Liberals continue to operate under the old Conservative plans and targets. They are great at environmental rhetoric, but time and again they fall down on getting anything done. The parliamentary secretary just refused to answer this question, so let us try again. Exactly how much will greenhouse gas emissions be reduced in each of the next three years?
Jonathan Wilkinson LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change
Madam Speaker, I am not sure if the hon. member was listening, but Canada is a federation, and that involves provinces and territories. The Canadian government is working with the provinces and territories to develop a pan-Canadian framework that is focused on reducing emissions and on investing in the clean growth economy. We will be working over the next several months with our provincial counterparts to develop that. We are also working in conjunction with our American partners and have already announced a number of measures in that regard.
This is the responsible and the Canadian way to approach things, and this is exactly what we are going to do.
Christine Moore NDP Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
Madam Speaker, the protection of species at risk was last on the list of Conservative priorities. In fact, 82 species had been recommended for inclusion in the species at risk public registry. Of course, the Conservatives did nothing, and we are still waiting for action.
The Liberal minister has had six months, but she has not done anything either. This is not complicated. We are talking about adding species to the registry, as already recommended.
When will the minister finally take action on this?
Hunter Tootoo LiberalMinister of Fisheries
Madam Speaker, I wish a happy Friday to everybody.
I would like to thank the member for her question, and I could not agree with her more; it was an issue that was totally ignored by the previous government. I would like to inform the member and this House that actually yesterday I signed off on a whole bunch of those things, and we are addressing the backlog that is there.
Mike Bossio Liberal Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON
Madam Speaker, last fall we campaigned on a promise to finally take action on climate change. Canadians understand that the economy and the environment are not two separate issues; they go hand in hand.
To that end, I understand that the Prime Minister is in New York today to formally sign the Paris agreement on climate change. Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change please inform this House about the important step that the Prime Minister is taking today?
Jonathan Wilkinson LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change
Madam Speaker, this government came into office after 10 years of complete and utter inaction on climate change on the part of the previous government.
Since elected, this government has played a very significant role in the achievement of the historic Paris agreement. It has launched a federal-provincial-territorial process to develop a pan-Canadian plan to reduce emissions and to invest in the clean growth economy. We have concluded significant measures with our American friends relating to methane emissions and a number of other measures.
We have done an enormous amount in six months. On Earth Day, I am extremely proud that the Prime Minister is signing an historic agreement in New York today.
Alupa Clarke Conservative Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Madam Speaker, the Liberal government recently announced that it was setting up six ministerial advisory groups at Veterans Affairs Canada. Veterans are wondering about that and are talking to me about it more and more.
Can the minister explain to the House the precise mandate of these groups?
Karen McCrimmon LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs
Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for the question. It is an excellent question, because this is something I really want to share with the rest of the House.
The Minister of Veterans Affairs wants to find out what the issues are for veterans. He wants to give veterans the opportunity to come to Ottawa to sit down with the people and share that information. In the past, that information had been controlled. I am going to sit down with all of these six groups, and we are going to find out, and we are going to—
Alupa Clarke Conservative Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Madam Speaker, that is very good and quite commendable.
Nonetheless, beyond the mandate of these six advisory groups, the veterans want to know the following. Who will be part of these groups? What qualifications are needed to sit on them? Do members of the group have to sign non-disclosure agreements?
Veterans expect transparency. They want to know why the list of members of each of these advisory groups has not been made public yet.
Karen McCrimmon LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the question because it is about making sure that this government consults and gets out there, gets the right information, and gets the advice it needs in order to make the right decisions.
Right now, because of the inaction of the previous government, the list of work that needs to be done in Veterans Affairs is huge.
We need to talk to all these different groups of people to find out how to prioritize all this work that needs to be done.
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Madam Speaker, the Liberals are cancelling funding for the integrated soldier system project. This is a uniform that protects the individual soldier from chemical and radiological weaponry and enemy fire.
Who can forget when the Liberals sent our soldiers into the desert of Afghanistan in forest green combat fatigues, making them targets?
Why do the lives of the women and men who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces mean so little to the Liberals?
John McKay LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence
Madam Speaker, members will be interested to know that in the last four years, while that member's government was the majority government, it cut back the funding for the forces by $3.3 billion. It took lapsing to an art form, to the point that it has lost a lot of money that was available for the men and women in uniform that she professes to be concerned about.
Had her government done the proper procurement cycles, we would not have the problems that she—
