Debates of May 30th, 2016

Finance — Main Estimates 2016-17

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, I would like to repeat that we are monitoring the voluntary agreement with credit card companies to see the outcome of that agreement, which will allow us to have more information to respond to this question.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Chair, does the minister know how many Canadian small business owners planning to retire have succession plans in place?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, most important, what we know is that by improving the economy we improve the opportunities for small businesses to be more successful, allowing them to have better succession opportunities for their business and more financial reward.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Chair, it is our understanding that just over half of small businesses have a succession plan while 76% plan their retirement in the next 10 years.

Does the minister believe it is fair that it is more costly to transfer a business to a child or family member than to a stranger?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, there is nothing that prevents a parent from selling shares of their family corporation directly to their child and claiming a lifetime capital gains exemption on the resulting capital gain. That is the tax law of this country.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Chair, could the minister let us know what the current level of household debt is in Canada?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, I am pleased to report that we pay close attention to the economic situation of Canadians as it is something we need to monitor to ensure we have a healthy economy. It is something I am paying close attention to together with my officials.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Chair, the PBO report says it is 171%. This is the highest level recorded since 1990. Could the minister explain why someone earning the average income of $40,000 or the median income of $31,000 in Canada would not qualify for the so-called middle-class tax cut?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, as mentioned previously in the House, we hope Canadians will look at the entirety of our measures. If they do, they will understand quite clearly that not only nine million Canadians will have a tax reduction, but nine out of ten Canadian families with children will have a much better situation because of the Canada child benefit, making them much better off to face the challenges of raising children in an economically stressful time.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Chair, I am going to let the remaining time go to my colleague, the member for Churchill—Keewatinook Aski.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Madam Chair, I will begin by focusing a question on the issue of employment.

The minimum wage has become a symbol of the minimum threshold for dignity. The states of New York and California both plan to adopt this minimum wage in the next few years.

In the interest of equity and fairness, will the minister raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Madam Chair, my hon. colleague asks an excellent question.

That measure could be one of a series of measures we will consider for future budgets.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Madam Chair, we certainly hope so. This is a main priority for the NDP, fighting for the $15 federal minimum wage.

Moving to the issue of unemployment, I would like to ask the minister how many Canadians are unemployed and how many are working in involuntary part-time positions.

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, we continue to pay very close attention to employment and unemployment across the country. In fact, it was one of the most important considerations as we considered the employment insurance system in our recent budget. We endeavour to continue to improve the economy so we can create jobs, reducing unemployment and helping Canadians.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Madam Chair, the answer is that almost 1.4 million Canadians are unemployed, and more than 900,000 work involuntarily part-time.

Moving to the issue of employment insurance, could the minister tell us how many Canadians are currently able to access EI benefits?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, one of the continuing issues that we look at is the relatively low number of Canadians who are able to access our employment insurance system. It is an issue that we are quite aware of, an issue that we pay attention to, and one of the things we will continue to look at in the future.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Madam Chair, the answer to that would be only 546,000 Canadians are able to access EI benefits, a figure that is entirely inadequate given that the EI fund belongs workers and those who need it when they fall on hard times. I wonder if the minister believes that less than four in ten unemployed Canadians being able to access EI is an acceptable figure.

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, we believe that working to improve the situation means taking stock of where we find ourselves and making measures to make a real difference. The employment insurance measures we have made in budget 2016 will make a real and measurable difference, allowing those unemployed who are in the system to get into the system more rapidly, and allowing them to get access to training more rapidly. Additionally, growing the economy will help all Canadians to have better jobs and a better future.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Madam Chair, we find the fact that only four in ten Canadians can access EI to be wholly unacceptable. I wonder if the minister could tell us what is the expected annual surplus in the EI account for this year.

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, as the hon. member may know, the actuary for the EI program provides reports annually, and we pay close attention to those reports to ensure that the EI system is adequately funded, and we will continue to do so.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Madam Chair, the answer to that would be $1.2 billion. While we are aware, we are also expecting concrete answers from the minister, which unfortunately we are not quite getting here tonight.

I wonder why the government has not used the EI account surplus to extend benefits to unemployed Canadians.

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, I would like to say to the hon. member that if there are very specific questions she would like specific answers to, we would be pleased to respond to those at any time in or outside the House, and do that formally.

We endeavour to continue to focus on the employment insurance system to make sure it works appropriately for Canadians. We have made significant measures in that regard and will continue to monitor it to make sure it is effective.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Madam Chair, again on the issue of employment, particularly precarious employment, I wonder if the minister could tell us how many Canadians are stuck in unpaid internships across the country.

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, the most important way to deal with the challenge of employment in this country is to focus on growth. That is what we have done as a government. We have focused on how we can improve growth. We have also taken some real measures that are improving people's situations today. Together these measures are going to make a real difference for Canada.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Madam Chair, the answer is that there are up to 300,000 unpaid internships across Canada. We know that many of these are performed by young people. It is young people who cannot access gainful employment, which is an issue that we hope the current government will take seriously.

Moving on to the issue of inequality, does the minister know how much wealth the richest 100 Canadians now hold?