Mr. Speaker, yesterday was change-the-channel day. The Liberal finance minister delivered an economic update, but it was really all about changing the channel on his ethics crisis.
Canadians are not dumb. They know that the minister should have put his Morneau Shepell shares into a blind trust. He led Canadians to believe that he had done so, but he had not. Instead, he used a loophole in the Conflict of Interest Act to put them in a numbered company in Alberta. Now, after being caught, he says he will finally do the right thing. He also tabled pension legislation that could directly benefit Morneau Shepell, and the finance minister conveniently forgot to disclose that he owns a villa in France through a numbered company. This scandal is so evident, even This Hour Has 22 Minutes has teed off on it.
It is time the finance minister stops trying to change the channel, apologizes to Canadians, and starts following the rules that apply to all members of Parliament.