Debates of Oct. 4th, 2017

Taxation

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on election promises, he promised he would lower the small business tax rate to 9%, but then cancelled that tax rate.

He promised lower taxes for the middle class, but 87% of them are paying more.

He promised higher taxes for the rich, but we collected fewer than $1 billion from the wealthiest 1% than in the previous Conservative government

With this particular package, he promised the rich would pay more, but in fact, the Morneau Shepell millionaires, and the Prime Minister's personal family fortune are excluded.

Will he admit that he broke all of those promises?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is very simple. We got elected on a commitment to lower taxes for the middle class, and raise them on the wealthiest 1%. We did that.

We then committed to create a new Canada child benefit that would put more money in the pockets of the middle class by not sending child benefit cheques to millionaire families. We did that, and that will be reducing child poverty by 40%, lifting hundreds of thousands of kids out of poverty.

Further, we want to help small businesses and the middle class, which is why we are making our tax system fairer right now.

Airline Industry

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, specific action from the current Liberal government to protect air passengers has been delayed and delayed. The minister talked about including an air passenger bill of rights in his legislation, but he never presented a plan. Instead, he wants to leave it to the airline industry. The safety and rights of passengers must be prioritized, which is the whole point. The NDP actually had amendments to protect customers and consumers right now.

The Minister of Transport does not want to do his job. Will the Prime Minister now step in and side with passengers for a change?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we made a commitment to bring in a passenger bill of rights, and that is exactly what we are doing.

We know that protecting airline passengers and travellers across this country is an important issue for Canadians, and that is why I am so proud of the work that the Transport Minister has been doing.

He is working with industry, advocacy groups, and citizens to ensure that, for the first time, we actually have a passenger bill of rights to protect our passengers..

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in committee, the Liberals rejected all of our amendments that sought to immediately create an air passengers' bill of rights. The Liberals' trademark is becoming their never-ending consultations. Meanwhile, we heard from a number of witnesses who told us that there are already solutions. It seems as though the Liberals are colluding with the major airlines.

If they want to avoid scandals like the ones we have seen with Air Transat or United Airlines, why do the Minister of Transport or the Prime Minister not immediately guarantee air passengers' rights?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, when Canadians buy a plane ticket, they expect airlines to be respectful, fair and competent.

That is why our government has introduced a bill to establish new rights for passengers. We even challenged the airlines to immediately respect the specific intentions of this bill, so that we can continue advancing Canadian passengers' rights.

Taxation

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister met with his provincial counterparts yesterday.

He probably noticed that the Premier of Quebec gave him a bit of a cool reception, and with good reason. Like millions of Canadians, the Premier of Quebec recognizes that the Liberal government's tax reform is going to directly affect middle-class Canadians.

Even Premier Couillard, the Liberal Premier of Quebec, said that it will also affect truly middle-class people, not just the super rich. This is not coming from a Conservative, but rather from the Liberal Premier of Quebec.

Will the Prime Minister finally admit that his reform is going to affect middle-class Canadians directly, while neither his family businesses nor he, himself, will be affected at all?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I was very pleased to be able to sit down with the first ministers yesterday.

We have a good working relationship with each and every one of them, especially the Premier of Quebec. He was very pleased to hear about the intent of our bill, which is to create real tax fairness and will not target the middle class. Rather, it will help the middle class and small businesses, and will create economic growth, which is good for everyone.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is not exactly what the Premier of Quebec was saying yesterday.

The rules around the transfer of family businesses are some of the Liberals' most tragic reform proposals. Selling a business to a family member will cost more in taxes than selling to an outsider.

That makes no sense. The Liberal Premier of Quebec is the one saying this, not me. He said that, back home, in the regions, when a business gets sold to an outsider, it usually ends up leaving the area, resulting in a loss of jobs and economic activity.

When will the Prime Minister of Canada finally understand that his tax reform will directly affect middle-class Canadians, especially those in the regions?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have heard this concern many times over the past few months. I can assure the House and all Canadians that our reform will not make it harder to sell a business to the next generation.

We value the farmers and small business owners who hope to pass on their business to the next generation, and we are going to protect them. That is one of the things we intend to accomplish with this bill.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Rita Felder, owner of FFM, Field Farms Marketing, in my riding, has worked for 15 years to build a business that employs 50 people, including her family. She knows these Liberal tax changes will have a devastating impact on her business, and jeopardize her children's dream of taking over the farm,

If this is really about going after the wealthy, then which of these tax changes will force our wealthy Prime Minister to pay one penny more in taxes?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we recognize that Canadians have questions and concerns about making the tax system fairer. We have heard those concerns, but we are allaying them. We recognize that nothing we are doing is going to harm middle-class Canadians.

This is a measure that goes after a system that encourages wealthy Canadians to use private corporations to pay lower tax rates than hard-working middle-class Canadians. That is not fair. That is what Canadians sent us to Ottawa to fix, and that is exactly what we are working on every single day in the House.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, class warfare should not be government policy, but these unfair Liberal tax changes do not distinguish between hard-working Canadian farm families and real tax cheats. A new technical analysis of these changes show that over a 20-year period, the typical Canadian farm of 3,000 acres will pay $1.3 million in new Liberal taxes.

Why is the Prime Minister going after hard-working Canadian farm families to the tune of $1.3 million when his own family fortune is untouched?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we recognize there are concerns about these changes. We have listened, and that is why we are bringing forward measures that will demonstrate we are focusing on supporting the middle class and helping our small businesses.

It is the wealthiest Canadians who use our current system as a way of paying lower taxes than middle-class Canadians. That is unfair. That is what Canadians know, and that is what Canadians expect from this government. It is to ensure we are supporting the middle class, and those hard-working farmers and fishers right across this country.

Seniors

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we have never had a national strategy that focused exclusively on Canadian seniors. Yesterday at committee, Liberal MPs repeatedly stated we would finally see one. One Liberal MP said, “We are doing one. That's the whole point of this.” However, when the minister was asked about this directly, the minister responsible for seniors was completely non-committal.

Seniors deserve more than just another study with another report whose recommendations are ignored. Will the Prime Minister commit today to a national seniors strategy?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP loves its national strategies. We prefer actions.

That is why one of the first things we did was increase the guaranteed income supplement for our most vulnerable seniors by 10%. That is almost $1,000 more in the pockets of our most vulnerable seniors.

We strengthened the CPP for a generation. We are delivering on a national housing strategy that is going to focus on supporting our seniors to ensure they live and retire in safety, security, and stability.

These are the kinds of things this government is working on every single day, and we will continue to, because we care about our seniors, and we are delivering for them right now.

Public Services and Procurement

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, another new story has come out about Phoenix. Apparently, the government was going to save taxpayers $688 million by using this new program, but as everyone knows, the opposite is true. The Phoenix fiasco has been dragging on for almost two years, and thousands of workers are still seeing no light at the end of the tunnel.

Now that they are halfway through their term in office, will the Liberals stop blaming the Conservatives, do their job, and make sure that Phoenix works for all public servants?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we know that it is unacceptable that people are not being paid properly and promptly for the work they do. That is why we are working so hard to resolve this situation we inherited. We are working with the public service and the unions. Employees throughout the public service are working extremely hard with our government to resolve this problem as quickly as possible because it is unacceptable.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, including myself many of my constituents in Mississauga—Erin Mills were not born in Canada, but that does not make us any less Canadian. I remember the day when I proudly took the oath of Canadian citizenship, along with my family, which was one of the most humbling moments of my life.

The Harper Conservatives put in measures in the Citizenship Act that told Canadians like me that we were below those who were born on Canadian soil.

Can the Prime Minister please update the House on how our government is ensuring fairness for all Canadians, regardless of where we were born?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Mississauga—Erin Mills for her incredible advocacy on so many important files.

In one week from today, on October 11, key changes to the Citizenship Act resulting from Bill C-6 will come into force. We delivered on a promise we made to Canadians to repeal the unfair two-tiered citizenship provisions brought in by the previous Conservative government.

We know that one of the strongest pillars for successful integration into Canadian life is achieving Canadian citizenship. We know diversity is our strength, and for this side of the House, a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.

Indigenous Affairs

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals paid convicted terrorist Omar Khadr $10.5 million when they were under no obligation at all to do so. Their explanation was they did not want to waste taxpayers' money on legal fees.

Now we come to a young aboriginal girl who requires $6,000 in dental work to ease her chronic pain, yet the Liberals have spent over $100,000 fighting her.

How can the Prime Minister justify giving $10 million to a convicted terrorist while fighting this girl in court?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our government knows that all Canadians need to have access to medically-necessary health care services. Through the non-insured health benefits program, we ensure that first nations and Inuit children have coverage for the full cost of medically-necessary orthodontic treatment.

As we move forward with the creation of the new department of indigenous services, we recognize that all programs and services have room for improvement. The ultimate goal is that benefit plans will be planned and delivered by first nations for first nations. Until that is possible, we will continue to look for ways to improve the services we deliver.

[Alex Nuttall, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's talk is cheap. The Prime Minister says one thing, and yet his government does another. The Liberals denied $6,000 in dental surgery to a young first nations girl and then racked up $110,000 in legal fees fighting this young girl, but when it comes to terrorists, they just give up and write a cheque.

Why did this Prime Minister give a convicted terrorist, Omar Khadr, $10.5 million but denied a young first nations girl $6,000 for dental surgery?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the actions of previous governments left Canadians liable for up to $40 million in payouts to Omar Khadr. We did not think that was right.

We know that when governments violate Canadians' fundamental rights and freedoms, everyone ends up paying. That outrage that everyone is feeling about the Omar Khadr settlement I hope continues to make sure that no future government ever violates a Canadian's fundamental rights again.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. Most members in all parties, a clear majority, are able to sit through question period and hear things they do not like, lots of them, without commenting when it is not their turn. I would urge members to not comment when it is not their turn.