Debates of Oct. 4th, 2017

Taxation

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as we said from the very beginning, we are looking at making the tax system fair. Canadians know that wealthy Canadians are encouraged, with our current tax system, to use private corporations as a way to pay lower tax rates than many middle-class Canadians. We do not think that is fair. Canadians do not think that is fair. That is why they sent us to Ottawa, to fix what we inherited from the Conservatives, and that is exactly what we are doing.

The first thing we did was lower taxes on the middle class and raise them on the wealthiest 1%. We have delivered a Canada child benefit that gives more money to nine out of 10 Canadian families. The Conservatives voted against it.

Justice

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the previous Conservative government respected the court decision and repatriated Omar Khadr. That was his compensation, a second chance to live in the country that he fought against. However, the Prime Minister decided to cut him a cheque over and above for $10 million. His justification for doing that was that he wanted to save costs on legal fees. Meanwhile, he is fighting an indigenous girl in court over her need for dental care

. When it comes to standing up to a convicted terrorist, why does the Prime Minister give up the fight, but when it comes to fighting an indigenous girl for dental care, money is no object?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, previous governments violated a Canadian's fundamental rights and freedoms. When that happens, we all pay. We know we cannot just defend people's rights when it is popular, when it is easy. We have to stand up and defend charter rights even when it is hard. That is exactly what we are doing.

The outrage we hear from Canadians, which we share, needs to continue to make sure that no government ever thinks it is okay to violate a Canadian's fundamental rights again.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the previous government respected the court ruling and repatriated Omar Khadr, but that was not enough for the Prime Minister, who preferred to give him $10.5 million instead of fighting him in court.

However, when a young girl needs orthodontic care, the Prime Minister drags the matter out in court.

Why is it as easy for the Prime Minister to give millions of dollars to a convicted terrorist as it is to deny care to a young girl?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, to address the second part of the question, our government knows that all Canadians should 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.

The Environment

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development released a series of absolutely devastating reports. She says that the government is, and I quote, “not prepared to deal with the impacts of climate change”.

The commissioner reported that 14 of the 19 departments audited had not assessed their climate change risks, and a 1990 cabinet directive on environmental impact was not being followed 80% of the time.

The Liberals have plenty to say about the environment.

The question is, what are they doing about it?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, first allow me to congratulate the member for Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques on his new role and new responsibilities. I also want to congratulate the New Democratic Party for choosing a new leader who represents Canada's full diversity. His leadership will benefit everyone in this chamber.

The environment is an issue we take extremely seriously. It has taken a lot of hard work to address the deficiencies we noted over the past 10 years under the previous government. We are moving forward in a vigorous and responsible way.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Prime Minister on behalf of our new leader for his good wishes.

To the matter at hand. We have in front of us a government that has approved three pipelines, is 111 megatonnes away from our Copenhagen targets, and is 219 megatonnes away from our Paris targets.

Greenhouse gas emissions have actually increased by 15% since 1992. Do the Liberals understand that when it comes to the environment, the proof is in the pudding?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, for the first time in Canada's history, we have a concrete plan to reduce our climate emissions as a government. We actually are going to reach our Paris targets. The way we are going to do that is by understanding that we cannot separate economic growth from protecting the environment. We need to do it together. That is what Canadians expect.

The Conservatives ignored our environmental responsibilities for 10 years. The NDP is not focused on growing the economy. We know we have to do them both together. That is exactly what we are doing with a historic plan to price carbon, a historic plan to work with the provinces, and to move forward—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques.

Canadian Heritage

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

We hear the words, Mr. Speaker, but we are still waiting to see action.

Governing should be about establishing clear and fair rules for everyone, yet the Minister of Heritage chooses to make deals with foreign multinationals, allowing them to forgo paying their fair share. She has been clear that Netflix is just the first in a long line. Spotify, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube are next.

When will the Prime Minister listen to reason and realize that this deal means outsourcing our cultural industries to American companies?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

On the contrary, Mr. Speaker. We on this side of the aisle recognize that the cultural universe is changing whether we like it or not. People are watching less on TV and more on the Internet. That is why we are reaching out to different ways and new ways to finance our content creators, finance the great production companies in Quebec and across Canada to ensure we will be able to produce Canadian content that will be consumed not just across the country but around the world.

We believe in our content creators, and that is the investments we are drawing in from around the world.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the National Assembly was not satisfied with these arguments, since yesterday it passed a unanimous motion rejecting the Netflix deal. The Assembly also demanded that the minister defend our cultural industries.

Yesterday, the Quebec ministers of culture and finance condemned the inequities in the administration of the tax rules. The artists' union also expressed their concerns yesterday after a meeting with the heritage minister.

What does the minister say in response? She says that other such deals are coming—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we made a commitment during the election campaign not to raise taxes for Canadians, and that is exactly what we are going to do. We are not going to raise taxes for Canadians.

In terms of investing in culture, we are very proud that for the first time we actively sought investors like Netflix, who will be investing half a billion dollars here in Canada to get extraordinary content that we can create right here. This will benefit our artists and production companies. It is a great day for the artistic community and this will not stop here.

Taxation

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in their quest for fairness, the Liberals have found a new way to prevent a young entrepreneur from accessing funding to create his own business. The end result is pure hypocrisy. Firms such as Morneau Shepell will not be affected by the reform, but young entrepreneurs will have to look elsewhere to find the necessary funding to build their business.

When will the Prime Minister get a grip on reality and stop taxing the middle class?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the first thing we did was lower taxes for the middle class and increase them for the wealthy, an initiative that the Conservatives voted against.

We know that to invest in our communities, in our small and medium-sized enterprises and our start-ups, we have the ability to encourage people to invest, to not keep these passive investments for their own retirement, but to use them for the future of our businesses.

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the middle class, especially young entrepreneurs, will be hit hard by this reform. It is unjust and unfair that public corporations are not being taxed while young entrepreneurs who want to build their businesses are being taxed and prevented from creating wealth.

This government does not redistribute wealth; it gobbles it up and prevents wealth creators from making their dreams come true.

When will the Prime Minister see that his reform is unfair and does not apply to big corporations? Can he name just one clause in his reform that would have him pay more tax?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, opposition members would rather talk about me than about businesses.

We are working hard for small and medium-sized businesses, and we know we have to invest in their future and help the middle class to stimulate economic growth.

We will have a fairer system. We will make sure that everyone pays their fair share of taxes. That is what Canadians expect from this government, and that is exactly what we are going to do.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, what the Prime Minister does not understand, when we stand to talk about the stories we have heard, is that we are not talking about him. We are talking about what constituents are saying about him, and they are saying it.

Last night, after the Liberals voted to close consultations on these tax changes, I went to Cornwall, Ontario. There were 130 people in that room who said they were not done with giving information to the Prime Minister and the cabinet. One woman said that she had been in the community for a long time. She had promised her daughter that they would not move, but now they have to move. Her complaint is this. Her family fortunes are changed, but his are not.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have been listening to Canadians across the country over the past months. We have been listening to them for years. They recognize that the system we have encourages wealthy Canadians to use private corporations to get out of paying the same tax rates as middle-class Canadians. That is not fair, and that is exactly what we have committed to change.

We have heard the concerns of Canadians. That is why we have committed, as we move forward with making the tax system fair, that we will do nothing to harm small businesses or the middle class.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, he may have heard, but is he listening to the anguish in their voices, and is he seeing the tears on their faces? That is exactly what I was seeing when I held consultations across this country. People are terrified.

A woman in Cornwall last night was at a loss for words. She could not speak, because she was so worried that she was not going to be able to make ends meet. Do members know what her solution was? It was that maybe she should just wrap it all up, move to the city, and work for someone else.

The current government is killing innovation for women, and I want to know from the Prime Minister, what hurts him in this legislation?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we take very seriously the concerns of Canadians, which is why we are moving forward with legislation. It will show that small businesses, folks who are working hard, and the middle class will not be affected by these changes. This is what we are moving forward with.

I know members opposite want to stretch out the period of uncertainty, but what we are actually doing, having listened to Canadians, is moving forward. It will demonstrate that what we are doing to make the tax system fairer will not hurt small businesses and the middle class.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is the Prime Minister who created the uncertainty with this surprise attack on the tax rates of our local businesses and family farmers. Double taxes will reach as high as 73%, and higher taxes on farmers selling to their kids than selling to foreign multinationals, but no new taxes on the Prime Minister's personal family fortune.

If I am wrong about that, can the Prime Minister give even one example of a measure in this package that will cost him a penny more?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, members opposite talk about surprises, but the fact is we got elected on a commitment to raise taxes on the wealthiest 1% and lower them on the middle class. That is a commitment we made, and it is one on which we followed through.

In our election platform, we explicitly laid out our intention to support small businesses, recognizing the current system encourages wealthy Canadians to use private corporations to pay lower tax rates than the middle class. This was a concern we were going to fix. We committed to it, and we are doing it.