Debates of Nov. 29th, 2017

Ethics

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have full confidence in the Minister of Finance, and one only has to look at the half a million new jobs to understand why.

However, it is interesting. We have created Prime Minister's question period on Wednesdays to give an opportunity to backbench MPs to ask questions of the Prime Minister directly. If the member opposite wants to see how much confidence I have in the Minister of Finance, he just needs to keep asking these questions.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we are happy to keep asking—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

We were hearing nice things about peace earlier. I liked that. Let us try to have a little quiet when we hear the questions and the answers.

The hon. Leader of the Opposition has the floor.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, we are happy to keep asking questions. The reason the finance minister is in trouble is that he simply cannot answer the questions.

He misled Canadians about putting his assets into a blind trust. He was fined for holding onto an offshore corporation and not disclosing it, and he introduced pension legislation that could benefit him and his family company. Now he is refusing to answer simple questions about personal, multi-million dollar transactions in Morneau Shepell.

How is it that the Prime Minister is able to blindly trust someone who has demonstrated such ethical lapses?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. Order. I am unable to hear the answer from the Minister of Finance.

Order. I am going to need to hear it, or we will have a shorter question period, perhaps. Order.

The hon. Minister of Finance.

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we have reached a new low in this House. The opposition members—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. Minister of Finance.

Order.

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there are no secrets here. As has been reported in the press, when I came into office, I sold some shares. As has been reported, when I came into office, I made a $5 million donation to charity. As we know, we campaigned to 36 million Canadians that we would raise taxes on the 1%, which we did. As everyone knows, except for perhaps the opposition, no one knows what the stock market will do in advance.

Therefore, if the members opposite have something they want to say, they should say it here, say it now clearly, and in the foyer.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is good to see the finance minister being allowed to answer a question. If he is so sure that he has done nothing wrong, will he answer one very specific question, and this question has been posed in the House as well as outside of the House. Was it he who sold 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell just days before the motion was tabled in the House to change the tax—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. Minister of Finance.

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I am absolutely happy to answer the question. As has been reported in the press, I did sell shares when I came into office.

What I can say, with absolute clarity, is that what we are doing here is we are focusing on something because those members do not want to focus on something else. What they do not want to focus on is how well things are going for Canadians. That is what we will continue to be focused on. We will pursue what we know is in the best interests of Canadians. That is working. That is what we are going to continue to do.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the minister still will not answer that specific question. On November 30, 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell were sold. Was it the finance minister who sold those shares?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, again, there are no secrets here. If the member opposite has an allegation, if he wants to say something, he should say what he means. He should say it here and he should say it now. He should stand and say it, and then he should go out in the foyer and say it again.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I know it is too much to expect love, but we did hear about peace earlier and that was nice.

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

What a complete mess, Mr. Speaker, and the Minister of Finance has only himself to blame.

On November 30, 2015, someone sold 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell, just a week before the minister announced tax measures that would eventually lower the value of those shares.

The minister himself confirmed having sold that many shares. He could have avoided this whole mess from the beginning by denying that it had anything to do with him, by denying that he sold the shares on November 30, but he refuses to do so.

Why, then, has the Prime Minister not called on his Minister of Finance to give a clear answer?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry that what the opposition member has in front of him is not relevant, but the finance minister just answered that question.

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

Mr. Speaker, not only did he not answer the question, he decided not to answer, period. He had nothing against the question, but he certainly has something against the answer.

How can anyone believe what the finance minister says anymore? It seems that he is constantly annoyed just at the simple questions we are asking, which are necessary and vital for a healthy democracy. He can never give a straight answer.

I have a tip for him. Avoiding questions and threatening legal consequences to silence critics does nothing to exonerate him. In fact, it is making things worse. I would suggest another strategy that all Canadians could appreciate: telling the truth.

When will the Prime Minister ask the finance minister to tell the truth?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister is answering questions and I am answering questions.

We continue to remain focused on the things that matter to Canadians. That is why we created over half a million jobs over the past two years, why we have the strongest growth rate in the G7, why we delivered a tax cut for the middle class and raised taxes on the wealthiest 1%, and why we delivered a Canada child benefit that helps nine out of 10 families. Unfortunately, on that child benefit, members opposite, NDP and Conservative, voted against it.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, enough is enough. The Minister of Finance is in trouble up to his eyeballs. He misled the House and benefited from a bill he introduced. He put himself in a conflict of interest and he is under investigation.

Somehow, thousands of shares in Morneau Shepell were sold a few days before a major tax announcement. When people say they no longer believe politicians and that they think we are all crooks, that is why. The Liberals were elected to restore public confidence.

How can the Prime minister have confidence in his Minister of Finance?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, one of the ways for Canadians to judge what members say is to see whether they are prepared to repeat their comments outside the House, where there is no parliamentary privilege.

I would suggest that my friend opposite be very explicit in his comments, inside and outside the House. We will see if he really wants to support the allegations he is making.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this is a newsflash for the Prime Minister. We have said all of these exact things outside the House as well as inside.

The Prime Minister's own clear promise to Canadians was that he and his ministers must not be in a conflict of interest or even in “the appearance of a conflict of interest.” The Prime Minister said that he would be different. He said that he would answer questions. Let us test that promise.

Has the Prime Minister asked his finance minister if he cleared the sale of $10 million of shares with the Ethics Commissioner before he introduced major changes to the tax code? By not holding his finance minister accountable, how would he expect any Canadian to believe anything he has to say?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the NDP and the Conservatives are pretending there was some sort of secret here, that we were going to lower taxes for the middle class and raise them on the wealthiest 1%. We campaigned on that promise. They lost because of that promise. I know they remember it.

The fabrications and the personal attacks, the slinging of mud in this place, and hiding behind parliamentary privilege is not what Canadians expect from this place.