Debates of Oct. 17th, 2017

Opposition Motion—Minister of Finance's documents submitted to the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I first want to thank the stakeholders in my riding of Vaughan—Woodbridge, who have provided and are providing feedback on the proposed consultation paper, “Tax Planning Using Private Corporations”.

I have met with many small and large businesses in my riding, as well as tax experts from leading accounting firms to understand that tax fairness is something our government must pursue and that we do need to consult and listen to our stakeholders to get it right.

The city of Vaughan is home to over 13,000 businesses, and an entrepreneurial spirit I find is unrivalled in the country.

Our government continues to work for the middle class. We are helping the middle class.

We know when the middle class succeeds, we all succeed.

Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to talk about how the government is creating the conditions for all Canadians to succeed in a changing and exciting economy.

When we came into office two years ago, we made a commitment to invest in our people, in our communities, and in our economy. We made a commitment to help grow the middle class and those working hard to join it. Our plan is working. We are now the fastest growing economy in the G7, not by a small margin but a wide margin. In the second quarter, the annualized growth rate hit 4.5%. Over the last four quarters our economy has grown the fastest since 2006. In two years, we have created—

[The Deputy Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

Order please. The hon. member for Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies is rising on a point of order.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to remind the hon. member across the way the motion reads:

That, given accusations by experts that the Minister of Finance’s family business, Morneau Shepell, stands to benefit from the proposed changes outlined in “Tax Planning Using Private Corporations” and assurances by the Minister that he has abided by his Public Declaration of Agreed Compliance Measures with respect to his family business, the House request that the Minister table all documents he submitted to the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner between November 4, 2015, and July 18, 2017.

That is the motion before the House right now. I would hope the member across the way would recognize that is the topic of discussion today, not seemingly going down the topic the member is talking about. I just wanted to correct him on that. He might want to stick to the subject at hand.

[The Deputy Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

I thank the hon. member for Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies for his comments. Members will know of course that speech in the House does need to pertain to the motion and the subject that is before the House. That is a general rule. Members will also know that members are given quite a degree of latitude in terms of how they make their arguments in this respect.

I will listen carefully to the hon. member to make sure he remains on track. I will also say that in the course of a subject that invokes the activities, integrity as some may say, of the minister in this case, that is in question, speech and arguments around either side of those questions would certainly be within the boundaries of relevance, from my point of view.

We will listen carefully to that, certainly, but again members have a fairly wide berth in how they make their arguments in this regard.

We will now go back to the hon. member for Vaughan—Woodbridge.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for your explanation. I thank my hon. colleague across the aisle for his intervention as well.

I have known the member of Parliament for Toronto Centre, the Minister of Finance, for a few years now. When I think about the integrity and hard work that goes into our careers as politicians and as members of a community, I look to, and I am glad to say that I am friends with and on the same team as, the Minister of Finance. I know his integrity. I know the core values that he represents. I am glad to be on a team with the hon. minister.

Going back to my comments today with regard to tax planning using private corporations, we as government and myself as an individual, always co-operate with all government bodies, including any meetings with the Ethics Commissioner and so forth. I would like to throw that back.

Our economy is growing well. Our government has created 112,000 full-time jobs and this is because of the policies that we have put in place.

Wage growth in this country is actually coming back. In September we saw an acceleration in wage growth and this is great for Canadian workers and great for Canadian families. It is also great for the people I represent. This too is related to polices that we have put in place and consultations that we have had and are having with regards to tax fairness.

Our government laid the foundation for economic growth the moment we took office. The first thing we did was to cut taxes for nine million middle-class Canadians, providing over $20 billion of tax relief to Canadians. We also raised taxes on the wealthiest 1%, which was the right thing to do. Single individuals who benefit from this are saving an average of $330 per year and couples who benefit are saving an average of $540 each year.

Our government has also made child benefits more accessible to Canadians, a simpler program, a tax-free program, providing on average $2,300 extra per year, per family. That is remarkable and again relates to the actions and the policies put in place by our finance minister. I am proud to be a part of that. I am proud to be a part of a team that cares for children who currently live in poverty, a team that cares for families who currently need a bit of assistance. That is what our party is about, again speaking to the integrity of the finance minister.

The member of Parliament for Toronto Centre came together with his colleagues at the provincial level and came to an agreement to enhance the Canada pension plan. Think about that. Think about the previous government. For 10 years it did nothing with respect to CPP. The finance minister worked in collaboration with the provinces and Canadians will get an enhanced Canada pension plan that will benefit millions of them going forward.

Yesterday, we announced the lowering of the small business tax rate. It has gone from 11% in 2015 to 10% in 2018 and will be 9% in 2019. This, part and parcel, involved listening to Canadians and small business owners, many of whom I represent.

I have had a lot of feedback in the last few weeks. I can say to my constituents and small and large businesses back home that they have a voice here in Ottawa, that this government understands their concerns. Each of us as members of Parliament have brought their constituents' concerns back to Ottawa. That is what we are obligated to do. That is our job.

This government is listening.

I am proud to say that we have cut taxes for small businesses and they will benefit up to $7,500. This will provide tax relief over a couple of years of approximately $3 billion. This action should be applauded by all sides of the House.

The Prime Minister made his intention clear yesterday during an announcement in Markham, and I certainly support it.

To support this change the government will take steps to ensure that Canadian-controlled private corporation status is not used to reduce personal income tax obligations for high-income earners rather than supporting small businesses. We have a tax system that encourages wealthy individuals to incorporate just so they can get a tax advantage. This leads to a situation where someone making hundreds of thousands of dollars can get a lower tax rate than a middle-class worker making much less per year. That is not fair, and our government is going to fix it.

On July 18, the Minister of Finance launched a consultation process, otherwise known as tax planning using private corporations. We have heard lots of feedback.

I know I have spent numerous hours going over the proposal, looking at it. We need tax fairness and we need to get it right. We are consulting and listening to all Canadians. I spent many hours understanding this paper and ensuring there were no unintended consequences, that it was a proposed consultation paper. We absolutely are going to get it right.

We heard from business owners, professionals, experts, and our caucus on ways to improve our proposals to ensure we would not affect hard-working middle-class entrepreneurs, many who live in the city of Vaughan and many who I represent as the member of Parliament for Vaughan—Woodbridge, such as family businesses, farmers, and fishers. As someone who grew up on the north coast of British Columbia, I have many friends who are fishers. They still go out on their trawlers, seiners, gillnetters to try to make a living. I know how important it is that we protect and ensure they have a good livelihood. We have heard them and we are acting on what we have heard.

In the short term, the government intends to simplify the proposal to limit the ability of owners of private corporations to lower their personal income taxes by sprinkling their income to family members. The vast majority of private corporations will not be impacted by the proposed income sprinkling measures. An estimated 50,000 family owned private businesses are sprinkling income. This represents a small fraction, 3% of Canadian controlled private corporations. All we are doing is extending the rules that are already in place on income pertaining to dividends, which is the right thing to do. That is tax fairness, and I know Canadians agree with us.

Over the coming weeks and months,< we will announce the next steps in our plan to address tax planning using private corporations that take into account feedback received from Canadians during this consultation period.

In all cases, our changes will support small businesses and their contributions to our economy and, most important, our communities. I know first hand, having worked in the private sector for over 20 years in finance, that small businesses are the backbone of our economy. We will do everything we can to help them grow. This is seen in the numbers, in the formation rates of small businesses, in business earnings. Businesses and consumers are buoyant because we have a program in place that is working.

In this day and age, where there is so much misinformation, it is crucial that we set the record straight and stick to the facts. This is what I am doing here today. From the very beginning, we have been perfectly clear about our commitment to ensure that as our economy grows, the benefits go to the middle class and, yes, those working hard to join it, not just to those who are already successful.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague is a good friend. We serve together on the finance committee. At the end of his speech, he alludes to the facts. The facts are that all of us as parliamentarians have to disclose what we have as assets. The facts are that there are rules around ministerial accountability on this issue. The facts are that the minister, unlike others in the House, has decided not to disclose what he did for two years and he has been found out. Those are the facts.

I would ask the member, who I believe has personal integrity at his heart, to account for the fact that the finance minister has not abided by the ministerial rules and his mandate letter, which said he would be beyond reproach as far as any perception of such things.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to call the member for the beautiful riding of Brantford—Brant my friend and a colleague in the House. We did serve on the finance committee. We serve our residents as well.

When we call into question someone's integrity, we know that individually we all have personal responsibility, and I believe in that. I believe in integrity and in hard work. Those are my core values. I know for a fact that those are the same core values of the finance minister. I know for a fact that since the first day in office, the Minister of Finance has worked with the Ethics Commissioner to ensure her every recommendation and all conflict of interest rules are followed.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. However, I am afraid that my question might prove challenging because I get the impression that both sides of the House are talking about two completely different things today. The fact remains that I am concerned about the Minister of Finance's two years of silence.

On a much smaller scale, I own a little cottage in Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc. Although our work schedule does not allow me to get out there as often as I would like, I did not forget that I had a cottage in Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc. Even if I go there only once a year, I am the owner of that cottage. Even if I never went there, my municipal and school tax bills remind me twice a year that I am the owner of that beautiful place.

How can the Minister of Finance forget for two years, which potentially represents a couple of trips and a couple of tax cycles, that he owns a villa in France? Why did he not just disclose it?

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to the Minister of Finance, the member for Toronto Centre, we have full confidence in the Ethics Commissioner and her recommendations. Obviously, every member of Parliament is willing to take any further steps to avoid conflicts, or any perception of conflicts, as deemed appropriate by the Ethics Commissioner.

Again, I go back to integrity and what it means. It means fighting for kids who are living in poverty, helping those who need skills training, and putting innovation into the economy and growing it so all middle-class Canadians benefit. That is how we strengthen the economy for today and for the future.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the point I am trying to raise, because the debate today gives us an opportunity to do so, is that our Ethics Commissioner's advice and her saying that everything is being done according to Hoyle is absolutely useless in a common sense understanding of what we should do to maintain ethical standards. Our code of ethics, which is found in our standing rules book that is probably in every member's desk, is good to read. It calls on us to have high moral and ethical standards, and not to confuse our personal business dealings with our public work as an MP. None of it is enforceable.

I call on the Liberal government to make our code of ethics enforceable, which previous governments have not done.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure that any suggestions the hon. member has about strengthening any rules should be brought forward to the pertinent individuals to whom that pertains. I would hope the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands does so.

My personal view is that we continue to work hard for all Canadians. We continue to hold to the values of integrity and hard work, ensuring that day in and day out we do what is right for our constituents, whether we represent a riding on the east coast, west coast, or in the middle.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Calgary Rocky Ridge.

As the member of Parliament for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke and on behalf of the hard-working people of the upper Ottawa Valley, I participate in today's debate regarding the lack of transparency in the government.

I congratulate my eastern Ontario colleague, the hon. member for Carleton, for the excellent job he is doing as shadow finance minister for our Conservative government in waiting. The hon. member for Carleton is responsible for today's motion that the House is now debating.

Today's debate is a familiar refrain in Ottawa since the last election. There is a lack of transparency or, as some would call it, a hidden agenda between what the government says and what it does, and who benefits. Is this example before Canadians today simply one politician gaming the system to his benefit, or are Canadians looking at systematic corrupt behaviour on a scale of the multi-billion dollar Ontario electricity scandal?

Is the non-disclosure of all his vast corporate wealth by the member for Toronto Centre hiding the need for impartiality in decision-making that would be necessary had full disclosure taken place?

The allegation has been made that the changes put forth by the member for Toronto Centre, apart from unfairly attacking small businesses or individuals who are incorporated, will enrich the personal wealth of the finance minister. The need for higher taxes in these changes being pushed through the House, without proper public consultation, have been brought about by the decision to run huge budget deficits.

When I am asked the question about why the government is in such a huge deficit, I respond very bluntly that it is bad spending. The question then becomes, what kind of bad spending is resulting in such high deficits? I use the example of bad spending by the federal government on what the finance minister, the member for Toronto Centre, spent on a slick cover for his deficit budget booklet. The cover is used one day. Duplicate this example of bad spending across government and one can start to understand why the finances of Canada are in such a mess.

In 2017, just a slick cover on the deficit budget cost taxpayers $212,000. That makes the $175,000 the Liberal member for Toronto Centre spent on a slick cover for his budget in 2016 seem like a bargain.

Now to the member for Toronto Centre, who has a private European villa, and, to quote a national magazine, a “tax-dodging shell company...set up..to manage it”, something he neglected to disclose to the Ethics Commissioner, $212,000 must seem like chump change. “What is all the fuss?” the finance minister asks.

Simply put, the fuss is that the finance minister promised Canadians that he would abstain from decisions and discussions that relate to Morneau Shepell. Instead, he has actively bragged that not only did he abstain but he actively engaged in the discussions and promotion of the policy that experts say benefits his family-owned company. Beyond that, the member for Toronto Centre failed to disclose a private corporation to the Ethics Commissioner. Most Canadians would never forget, if they owned a villa in France. To top it all off, the member for Toronto Centre admitted he did not place more than $30 million in Morneau Shepell shares into a blind trust.

Few Canadians had the benefit of a trust fund from daddy growing up, or attended private schools or had a fat income waiting in a family business when they were done school. The family business in this case is showing other one percenters how to avoid their fair share of tax.

In 2016, the median income for females in my riding was just over $25,000 per year. In fact, the bulk of all wage earners in my riding earn between $20,000 and $29,000 per year. Just the price of the slick cover on the 2017 deficit budget document would have paid the incomes of eight average working females in Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke. Those same individuals fall below the low income cutoff that normally qualifies a person for the supplement.

How ironic it is that one of the pieces of advice the member for Toronto Centre dispensed to his wealthy clients was how to game the system to collect the guaranteed income supplement. The guaranteed income supplement is intended for seniors who have no other source of income, except the universal old age pension. The supplement is means-tested. It is not intended for one percenters who hide their money to avoid paying their fair share of tax.

To put into further perspective the amount spent by the member for Toronto Centre on a cover for a booklet, I would point out that the Conservative government and Prime Minister Stephen Harper spent $600 for a stock photo for the cover of the 2015 balanced budget that was presented to Canadians. Yes, $600, and the federal budget was balanced. There is no respect for today's tax dollars in Ottawa.

The small business tax changes that have been presented by the member for Toronto Centre are a doubled-edged sword. On the one hand, the Liberal tax changes will unfairly tax doctors, farmers, small businesses, and a host of other hard-working Canadians, while on the other hand not touch the personal fortunes of the member for Toronto Centre and the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister benefited as a trust fund kid, as did his father before him.

To be clear, the motion before us today requests that the member for Toronto Centre table all documents he submitted to the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner between November 4, 2015, and July 18, 2017. Canadians have a right to know if the decisions being made by the member for Toronto Centre will be of personal benefit to his family fortune and the fortunes of other Liberal Party members.

The test will be if Liberal Party members vote in favour of today's motion. If the member for Toronto Centre has nothing to hide, the vote should be unanimous in favour of full disclosure. If, on the other hand, Liberal members speak against this motion or, worse, do not support it, Canadians can rightly ask what the member for Toronto Centre is hiding. By not providing full disclosure to Canadians, every financial decision made by the minister must be called into question. In its attack on small businesses, doctors, and others, the government asks who benefits. It is big business, of course, the big business types that attend pay-to-play fundraisers hosted in places like downtown Toronto. Big business and big government are mere images of one another. Big business, like the current government, overwhelmingly leans left.

Economists refer to the practice of giving handouts to big business as welfare capitalism, which is how much big business gets rich and most of it stays rich. Liberal-favoured big fundraisers make their fortunes exclusively through direct government subsidies and mandates. In Ontario, industrial wind turbines are the result of successful lobbying by the type of big business conglomerates favoured by the Liberal Party. Without government intervention, industrial wind turbines would represent a trivial part of the economy and not be a multi-million dollar drain on the pockets of electricity customers, who are forced into energy poverty by that bad spending. Unnecessary government intervention causes bad spending, starting with the government blowing over $200,000 on a cover of a budget and ending up with billions spent on social experiments that only hurt ordinary working Canadians.

Canadians have already been exposed to the five principles of the Liberal Party's tax policy. First, it attacks small business. Just ask the families who run campgrounds how effective that attack has been. Second, it continues to raise taxes on small business while publicly stating the opposite. Third, it continues to burden job creators with unnecessary regulations and red tape to stifle creativity. Fourth, it continues to bring in tax changes that make it harder and harder for the family farm to survive and continue within the family in the next generation. Fifth, it ensures that the tax system will continue to favour big business at the expense of entrepreneurs, particularly female entrepreneurs, whose success in small business is breaking the glass ceiling.

It has taken too long for Canadians to see just how out of touch the Liberal Party is with the needs and aspirations of ordinary Canadians. The member for Toronto Centre needs to get out of his Toronto glass bubble and actually listen to people, not to the one percenters he likes to associate with. The time has come for the government to listen to Canadians who respect the law, work hard, and play by the rules.

[Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development]

Mr. Speaker, the member opened her speech by citing her responses to constituents. I wonder what the member opposite would say to her constituents who are benefiting from a strong economy, strong employment, the lowest unemployment we have had in a decade, and the Canada child benefit, which are all initiatives introduced by our current finance minister.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the people in Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke have not been able to benefit from any growing economy because their wealth has been overshadowed. In fact, their wealth is mostly non-existent because of the huge taxes and the cost of living in the Ottawa Valley. Add to that the cost of electricity that is driving out jobs and, quite frankly, driving people out of their homes.

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

Mr. Speaker, before the member spoke, a government member talked about facts. The member talked about the middle-class tax break helping the middle class, but forgot to mention the fact that 17.9 million Canadians are not eligible for the middle-class tax break, namely, the working Canadians who earn $45,000 a year or less, who get nothing from it. The Liberals talked about the fact they are revising the small business tax, but have forgotten to revise the CEO tax loopholes on tax havens. The Liberals talked about the Minister of Finance going to the Privacy Commissioner about his disclosures, but they forgot to mention that the minister also forgot to mention his cottage, which is an incorporated company, and forgot to mention his promise to put his investments in a blind trust.

It is one thing for the government members to talk about the details and important facts of what they are doing for the middle class and the small business community, but quite another for the finance minister not to talk about what he should disclose to the Canadian public. Maybe the member can talk about that difference.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when the finance minister forgot about his failure to put $30 million worth Morneau Shepell shares into a blind trust, he was also knowledgeable of and benefiting directly from his decision to tax the retained earnings of businesses. That is the money that business owners set away so they can expand, or that farmers save for a rainy day or a bad season. More to the point, Morneau Shepell is the company that stands to gain the most from the individual pension plans peddled to business owners to protect their retirement incomes, who think that instead of setting money aside for a rainy day, all this money will come raining down on them through this other way of saving for retirement.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, shortly after the finance minister announced the business tax changes that would impact a broad range of Canadians, including doctors, there was a widely publicized Morneau Shepell poster placed in the Saskatoon community hospital. I do not know whether the member saw it, but clearly its purpose was to talk to doctors who would potentially be significantly impacted by these tax changes. That would be a direct benefit to Morneau Shepell. Could the member comment on that?

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, one thing we have noticed in the hospitals is that there are whiteboards put into the emergency reception area, and the whiteboards say how long it will take before a patient can see a doctor. If these proposed tax changes go ahead, hundreds of doctors, including the entire staff of the emergency room in Thunder Bay, have said they will leave Ontario. As a result, even if an emergency department still exists, it will be many hours before a person in dire need will actually be seen by a doctor.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in favour of today's motion that calls upon the finance minister to table all documents he submitted to the Conflict of Interest Commissioner between November 4, 2015, and July 18, 2017. July 18 was the day of the now infamous discussion paper, which came complete with draft legislation that would completely transform the taxation of Canadian-controlled private corporations if fully enacted by, among other things, severely discouraging small business owners from investing in their companies to support themselves in retirement.

The reaction to these tax proposals was immediate. They were universally panned by tax preparation professionals. In fact, I am not aware of a single professional private sector accountant who supports them.

Today's motion is about conflict of interest and the appearance of conflict of interest. As thousands of professionals, entrepreneurs, shop owners, construction contractors, fishers, and farmers nervously contacted their lawyers and accountants to find out how they would be affected by these changes, some of them, including those who would perhaps face an increase in taxes of up to 71%, were told that it might be in their best interest to start an individual private pension. They were shocked and appalled to learn that this is a specialized financial service and that the leading supplier of this product is none other than the finance minister's family business, Morneau Shepell.

The appearance of a conflict of interest in this matter has drawn people's attention to the finance minister's private business affairs more generally. Canadians, including members of the Liberal caucus, had assumed that the finance minister's shares in Morneau Shepell had either been sold or placed in a blind trust. His family business is a pension management and advice company, and the minister is in a position to influence consumer behaviour via its products.

The Liberals ran on an idealistic platform that included many promises. Many Canadians believed these promises to be sincere and elected the Liberals. As we know, they promised only a modest budget deficit of $10 billion to pay for infrastructure and to then return to a balance. We now have a structural deficit that far exceeds this so-called modest maximum, without any plan to return to a balanced budget. They claimed they would reduce taxes on middle-class Canadians, but then stripped away all the credits that most middle-class families use, leaving the average Canadian family paying over $800 in additional income tax under the current government. That was before they contemplated the draconian small business tax changes, and before their most recent disaster, the announcement about taxing the discounts of retail employees. They made a few other promises, like changing the voting system within 18 months, which was perhaps an unwise promise. Nevertheless, it was completely abandoned.

However, for purposes of today's motion, the promise that we need to talk about is their promise to be the most open and transparent government in the history of Canada. One of the first things the government did was to publish the mandate letters of the Prime Minister to each member of his cabinet. It is worth looking at these mandate letters.

In the mandate letter to the finance minister, the Prime Minister stated:

...Canadians need to have faith in their government’s honesty and willingness to listen. I expect that our work will be informed by performance measurement, evidence, and feedback from Canadians.

The letter continues:

It is important that we acknowledge mistakes when we make them. Canadians do not expect us to be perfect—they expect us to be honest, open, and sincere in our efforts to serve the public interest.

Indeed, they do. In fact, they expect the government to put the public interest ahead of the personal interests of members of cabinet.

The letter goes on to state:

This will include: close collaboration with your colleagues; meaningful engagement with Opposition Members...Parliamentary Committees and the public service; constructive dialogue with Canadians, civil society, and stakeholders, including business...identifying ways to find solutions and avoid escalating conflicts unnecessarily. As well, members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery, indeed all journalists in Canada and abroad, are professionals who, by asking necessary questions, contribute in an important way to the democratic process. Your professionalism and engagement with them are essential.

At yesterday's bizarre press conference in Stouffville, we can hardly blame the Minister of Finance. The journalists who were there, who were just beginning to understand the potential depth of the finance minister's compliance issues, wanted to question him. The Prime Minister more or less held the podium, and at first tried to prevent the finance minister from answering. He said that they had a chance to ask the Prime Minister a question, rather than let his finance minister answer.

The mandate letter concludes by saying:

As Minister, you must ensure that you are aware of and fully compliant with the Conflict of Interest Act and Treasury Board policies and guidelines. You will be provided with a copy of Open and Accountable Government to assist you as you undertake your responsibilities. I ask that you carefully read it and ensure that your staff does...as well. I draw your attention in particular to the Ethical Guidelines set out in Annex A of that document...As noted in the Guidelines, you must uphold the highest standards of honesty and impartiality, and both the performance of your official duties and the arrangement of your private affairs should bear the closest public scrutiny. This is an obligation that is not fully discharged by simply acting within the [letter of the] law.

The statement on “Open and Accountable Government”, which the Prime Minister referred to, said something that has been repeated many times in this House but is important. It states, “Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries must avoid conflict of interest, the appearance of conflict of interest and situations that have the potential to involve conflicts of interest.”

Now we know a few things. We know that the Liberal government has broken a litany of election promises such as electoral reform, deficit targets, reducing the tax burden on middle-class Canadians, and access to information reform. We know that the government has repeatedly made a mockery of the Prime Minister's statement on open and accountable government on everything from cash for access fundraising to the Prime Minister's visit to billionaire island, as well as attempts to appoint Liberal loyalists as key office holders to Parliament and failure to find replacements for officers with expiring terms, including the Ethics Commissioner.

We know that the government has proposed a draconian tax hike on small businesses, which everybody knows is nothing more than a tax grab induced by an insatiable appetite for tax revenue to plug an out-of-control deficit of the government's own making. We know that the reaction to this so-called tax reform is expert recommendation to some people to obtain retirement and investment services like those provided by Morneau Shepell. We know that the minister has failed to comply with the Conflict of Interest Act by failing to disclose an interest in a private French corporation apparently used to manage his French villa. We know that the minister's substantial family fortune is not held in a blind trust, as one would expect. We do not know whether he still holds the $30-plus million in shares that he owned in 2015.

Given the foregoing, one must conclude that either the Minister of Finance is so completely out of touch with the reality of small business that he has allowed these tax proposals to go ahead and come out on July 15 without any forethought to the consequences, or the Minister of Finance actually thinks that small business owners really are under-taxed at best or a bunch of cheaters at worst. Canadians are considering a third possibility, and that is that he decided to put the interests of his family's business ahead of the interests of Canadian citizens.

I do not want to have to believe the latter. I do not want Canadians to be in the position that they even have to consider the possibility of the latter. With our motion, the Minister of Finance is being invited to clear at least some of the air and end speculation around what is obviously, at a minimum, the appearance of conflict of interest.

Will the Minister of Finance, who has already demonstrated a failure to accurately disclose his affairs by failing to disclose the French corporation that owns his villa, set the record straight and table all documents submitted to the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner? That way, he can let Canadians judge whether he stood to gain from his proposed changes outlined in the paper entitled “Tax Planning Using Private Corporations”.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I am somewhat disappointed in terms of the degree to which the Conservative opposition party has really tried to personalize this issue.

We all know that every member of Parliament has an obligation to go to the Ethics Commissioner. The Ethics Commissioner provides each and every one of us, through her office, the opportunity to be transparent in terms of what it is that we need to declare. The Minister of Finance has clearly indicated that he will follow the recommendations and advice of the Ethics Commissioner. Thus, we have the Ethics Commissioner who is apolitical versus the Conservative opposition members who have taken every moment they have ever had in the last two years to be critical of the Minister of Finance. They voted against the tax break to Canada's middle class. They voted against a tax on Canada's wealthiest. They have been speaking out loud and clear against tax fairness among many other initiatives by the Minister of Finance.

I ask the member why would Canadians, or anyone, want to follow the advice and recommendations from the Conservative Party when we actually have an independent office designed to assist members of all political parties in terms of what it is that they need to do? The Minister of Finance has committed to following the advice of the commissioner.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have to address a few things that the member said. To begin with, we are not personalizing this issue. There are journalists, citizens, and people questioning whether the finance minister has put his family and business interests ahead of that of the Canadian public. I do not want that to be true. I do not want to live in the type of country where this type of behaviour happens.

I want the finance minister to answer the questions that people are putting to him. I am not certain how many times he has been asked this morning, either 14 or 15 times, whether he still has shares in Morneau Shepell. He could answer the question, table the documents, and put the issue to bed.

The answer that the member is giving the House is the technical answer, “It seems like he is probably following the law”. However, his obligations are not merely discharged by following the law. That is the minimum, and he is to be held to a higher standard according to both his mandate letter and the statement on open and accountable government.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague on his very eloquent speech.

I have to acknowledge that I approve of the wording of this opposition motion. However, I would have preferred to have devoted one hour rather than a whole day to this common occurrence, as important as it may be. That is too bad. It is obvious that the Minister of Finance should have complied with the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner's requests. It is an unacceptable omission on the part of the person holding that office.

This is also an opportunity for me to reveal that the government stooped so low as to promise to reduce the small business tax rate from 10.5% to 10% and then to 9%, and then waited until there was a crisis to make good on its promise. The SMEs in our ridings have been waiting a long time for this election promise to be kept.

Does my colleague not find it appalling that our SMEs are getting a consolation prize?

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his kind words. Yes, the small business owners in my riding, and in different parts of the country that I have travelled to over the last several weeks, have expressed their outrage. I share and fully understand why they are upset. What compounds the level of anger felt by entrepreneurs and business owners, as the government is characterizing them as under-taxed at best, and cheaters at worst, is when they then see that the finance minister is in the business of pension products that many small business owners are being now encouraged to buy. We need to put this to bed. We need to get rid of any appearance of conflict of interest so that the finance minister will have some credibility to execute his office.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform you that I will be sharing my time with the member for Pierrefonds—Dollard.

It is a pleasure for me to speak to the House about the government's plan to help the middle class and all those working hard to join it. We were elected by promising Canadians real change in what we do and how we do it. Canadians sent a clear message in the last election, and the constituents of Ottawa—Vanier gave me a clear mandate and a clear message last April.

They expect us to keep the promises we make to them. Our actions to date demonstrate that that is exactly what we are doing. We promised to make investments in order to stimulate economic growth, strengthen the middle class, and help those working hard to join it. We promised to provide more direct assistance to people in need by scaling back assistance to those less in need.

Let us look at what we have accomplished so far. From the beginning, one of the government's top priorities has been to level the playing field so that all Canadians would have the opportunity to succeed. That is why our government's first action was to raise taxes for the wealthiest 1% and cut taxes for the middle class. We also introduced the Canada child benefit. Compared to the previous child benefit system, the new benefit is more generous and better targeted to those who need it.

We enhanced the Canada pension plan to give Canadians a more dignified retirement after working their entire lives and making such vital contributions to society. We also made historic investments in infrastructure and invested in a major training and skills acquisition plan. It is increasingly clear that our plan to ensure economic growth is working. We have the fastest growing economy in the G7, by far.

In the second quarter of this year, our economy grew by an impressive 4.5%. In the past four quarters, our economy has enjoyed the fastest growth since 2006. Our economy is currently growing at an impressive rate of 4.5%, which is, I repeat, the highest rate since 2006.

Some 400,000 jobs have been created since we took office. These are significant results that are having a direct impact on the quality of life of Canadians, the middle class, and those working hard to join it. Through major public investments, we will continue to invest in Canadians themselves, their talents, their commitment, and their determination.

[The Deputy Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

The hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan on a point of order.