Debates of Oct. 19th, 2017

Ethics

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, in our last two budgets, our government invested almost $1 billion, and that money has enabled us to take concrete action.

We target four jurisdictions per year. We are on track to recuperate close to $25 billion. We have transferred 727 cases to criminal investigation, secured 268 search warrants—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Lakeland.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that makes it clear the minister hid his money, and now he is still hiding from Canadians. The Prime Minister directed the finance minister to “uphold the highest standards of honesty and impartiality. This is an obligation that is not fully discharged by simply acting within the law.”

The finance minister directly benefits from the tax treaty with Barbados. He oversees negotiations that set the tax rules between these two countries: that is not impartial. He did not tell anyone: that is not honest.

I ask again, did the finance minister recuse himself from all discussions about the Canada-Barbados tax treaty?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to address the core of that question. The Prime Minister sets the highest standards for integrity of our government. He expects us to follow through on the commitments we have to make to ensure we do not have conflicts of interest. When we look at conflicts of interest, the way we work toward ensuring we do not have them in our system is by working with the Ethics Commissioner. That is why I did that. That is why I followed her recommendations.

I know that in order to do even more, I am going to take additional steps. What I can make absolutely clear to Canadians is our government remains committed to the highest standards of integrity. We are going to go above and beyond the recommendations to make—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith.

Status of Women

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Speaker, as the #metoo campaign continues to show the magnitude of sexual assault in our country, Canadian universities just got a grade of C minus for their campus rape policies. Sadly, this is not new. That is why six months ago, New Democrats called on the Liberal government to lead a national coordination of policies to prevent campus sexual assault. Women need more than feminist rhetoric, they need action.

When will this self-proclaimed feminist Prime Minister truly stand up for women and lead this campaign?

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Minister of Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, gender-based violence is preventable, and yet it remains a significant barrier to gender equality. Our government is committed to ensuring that our daughters, mothers, and sisters live free from all forms of violence, which is why we put aside $100.9 million in the first federal strategy to address and prevent gender-based violence; to work on prevention, and support for survivors and their families; and to ensure more responsive legal and justice systems. The work continues, and we are committed to that work.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the #metoo campaign continues to shed light on the magnitude of sexual assault and sexual harassment.

A Canada-wide student group gives Canadian universities a C- for their campus sexual assault policies. There are no guidelines to accompany the policies. There needs to be national coordination by the government in order to prevent sexual assault at our universities.

Will the Minister of Youth, a self-proclaimed feminist, make the effort to coordinate sexual assault prevention policies on our campuses?

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Minister of Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, gender-based violence is unacceptable on campuses, in our workplaces, in homes, and in communities across the country. We are working to coordinate our efforts with provinces and territories. We worked with them to develop the first federal strategy to address and prevent gender-based violence. We are investing in work that campuses across the country are doing. We have invested close to $50 million in organizations across the country to do this important work. The women's movement has not been invested in for the last 10 years by the previous government. We are committed to changing that.

The Economy

[Raj Saini, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, for two years, our government has been working to help grow the economy and strengthen the middle class. The economy is now stronger and growing in ways not seen in over a decade. Canadian businesses and investors can have confidence in our dropping unemployment, our rising GDP, and the strengthening of our investment culture and the environment.

Can the Minister of Finance provide the House with an update on our government's plan to ensure that the middle class and those working hard to join it can benefit from this growth?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge that the member for Kitchener Centre, like so many of my colleagues, has been of enormous assistance over the last month as we have considered how to make sure our tax system is fair while encouraging competitiveness across our country.

The next step in that discussion really is about our fall economic statement. I am delighted to tell the House that next Tuesday, October 24, we will bring forth our fall economic statement to give Canadians an update on the progress we have made and the progress we want to continue to make.

I am very pleased to announce to Canadians and the House that on Tuesday, October 24, we will have the—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. The hon. member for Abbotsford.

Ethics

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today the Minister of Finance admitted that his ethical standards were in tatters. Ministers are not supposed to directly own shares in companies, especially those they regulate. To get around that, the minister hid his mega-million dollar fortune in an Alberta numbered company, dodging ethical guidelines and paying less tax than other law-abiding Canadians. Only a wealthy and entitled finance minister could pull off such a stunt.

With his integrity in shambles, will the minister now admit that he is still in a conflict of interest?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, there are numerous inaccuracies in that question.

Let us start with the very first fact that I disclosed all of my assets to the Ethics Commissioner. That was very important. I actually took the recommendations—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order, please. Perhaps members did not hear what I said earlier about losing a question, because that could happen very soon.

The hon. Minister of Finance has the floor.

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second step, of course, was taking the recommendations from the Ethics Commissioner so I could make sure I was free of conflicts of interest.

This is about respecting the officers of Parliament. It is not a surprise to me that the members opposite did not respect Statistics Canada, did not respect science, and also do not necessarily respect an officer of Parliament. I am going to continue to do so and live up to the highest standards that Canadians expect of me.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister conveniently forgot to disclose the company with the French villa.

Last week, I was in Maple Ridge and heard the outrage residents had toward their missing-in-action MP over his government's hypocrisy on taxes. Small businesses are angry that the Minister of Finance, who is asking them to pay more taxes, receives tens of thousands of dollars per month from a company that he owns and regulates and that is registered in an offshore tax haven.

Why did it take him two years to admit that he failed to uphold the ethical standards expected of a finance minister?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the statement was entirely factually incorrect, but let me move forward and say what we have done for Canadians this week.

For small businesses across the country, we are moving forward to lower their tax rate. By January 1, 2019, they will have a 9% tax rate, which is lower than the 10.5% presently. We are also making sure their system is fair. Businesses will be able to continue to save within their companies so they can actually invest in their businesses or have a retirement. However, we will do it in a way that does not advantage the very few that are already successful.

These are important measures that we are going to move forward to help—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Chilliwack—Hope.

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Mr. Speaker, for two years, the Minister of Finance used fancy lawyers and fancy accounting schemes to secretly exploit an ethics loophole and maintain control of millions of dollars of Morneau Shepell shares that, as finance minister, he was banned from owning directly. Changing that scheme two years too late and only after his hand was caught in the cookie jar does not change the fact that this was corrupt and a conflict of interest.

Why did the Minister of Finance work so much harder to hide his conflict of interest than to actually avoid it in the first place?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, based on that question, I can only assume the member opposite is questioning the advice of the Ethics Commissioner.

What I did by exposing all of my assets to the Ethics Commissioner was I allowed her to give me advice on how best to move forward to ensure I did not have a conflict of interest. I took those recommendations, respecting the office and making sure I assured Canadians that I did not have a conflict of interest.

By taking the additional step of moving forward to do things not required of me, I want to make sure that we can continue to do the work we want to do for Canadians to make sure Canadian families have success and that we do better and better over the years to come.

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we are questioning the minister's clear conflict of interest. Morneau Shepell is a company that administers pensions. It is a company that would benefit from friendly legislation from the Minister of Finance, and that is exactly what happened.

The minister introduced a bill to allow target benefit pension plans, the very plans his own company administers. The Minister of Finance personally profited from the decisions he made as the Minister of Finance.

Why did it take two years for the minister to realize that he should not be both the Minister of Finance and the minister for Morneau Shepell?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, we are going to move on from the discussion around my personal finances. We are going to ensure we do the work that Canadians want us to do.

We know that dealing with conflicts of interest is important. We have done that. I have taken an additional step. Now we are going to work to ensure that the growth we have seen in our economy continues, that the jobs we have grown in our economy help families, and that we can continue to add more new jobs. That is the work we are committed to doing for Canadians.

The Environment

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, adjacent to the Sarnia industrial complex, has suffered high incidences of cancer, rashes, and respiratory diseases, yet there has been minimal enforcement action by Conservative or Liberal governments on repeated spills and pollution incidences. This first nation's calls for a health impact study mirror others being ignored.

The Minister of the Environment has a duty to regulate toxins. The Minister of Health has a mandatory duty to take action when toxins impact health. What is their excuse for failing to protect this suffering community?