House of Commons Hansard #229 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was smoking.
Joël Lightbound LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, acting in the interests of Canadians was lowering taxes for nine million Canadians, lowering taxes for small businesses from 10.5% to 9%, helping 300,000 kids be lifted out of poverty with the Canada child benefit, and growing this economy at the fastest pace in the G7, something the Conservatives were never able to achieve.
That is working in the interests of Canadians. That is Conservatives playing politics. That is Liberals working for Canadians.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Speaker, first of all, the Liberals raised taxes on 87% of middle-class Canadians. Second, their child poverty claims were declared, even by The Canadian Press, to be a lot of baloney. Third, while the Liberals raised taxes on everybody else, the finance minister was very meticulous in ensuring that none of the tax increases applied to him or Morneau Shepell.
Once again, will he finally reveal what he is hiding in this vast network of numbered companies and trust funds, so Canadians can be assured that their finance minister is acting in the public interest, not for his private profit?
Joël Lightbound LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the finance minister has always been transparent and forthcoming with the Ethics Commissioner. He has always followed the rules and followed the recommendations, and he has announced he will go even above and beyond.
I understand why the Conservatives do not want to talk about the economy and prefer to talk about the finance minister. If we remember, and I will give the number, 1.6% was the real annual GDP growth for a decade. That was the worst since Mackenzie King, the worst in 69 years. Let us compare that to today, when Canada is growing its economy at the fastest pace in the G7, and it is 3.7% over the last year. That is what we are doing.
That is, again, Conservatives playing politics, and Liberals working for Canadians.
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
Mr. Speaker, it is one distraction after another.
The Prime Minister, his cabinet, the parliamentary secretaries, and the Liberal caucus are the only ones who refuse to acknowledge the obvious fact that the Minister of Finance was indeed in a conflict of interest. He paid a fine for hiding his villa in France, and now he is casting doubt on the Ethics Commissioner's word.
Instead of being complicit in this sad affair where the rich can cut a fat cheque to get themselves off the hook, will someone in the government stand up and ask the finance minister to tell us what he is hiding in his numbered companies?
Joël Lightbound LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner and will continue to do so with full transparency to make sure he is following the rules. He has announced that he will go even further by divesting himself of his shares in Morneau Shepell and placing all of his assets in a blind trust so he can continue the important work he does for Canadians.
He has been doing this work very successfully for the past two years, which has led to the strongest growth in 10 years—much stronger than anything the Conservatives achieved for Canadians during their 10 years in office.
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always lived in a world where money can fix everything. He thought he could buy some peace and quiet by writing one big fat cheque and one small cheque.
While the big fat cheque is impressive, it is the small cheque that says it all. It confirms that the Minister of Finance was caught red-handed.
Knowing that, does the Minister of Finance understand that paying $5 million and $200 does not excuse what he did? Canadians deserve more transparency from their finance minister.
When will he tell Canadians what he is hiding in his numbered companies?
Joël Lightbound LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the institution responsible for preserving the integrity of Parliament, an institution that we have the utmost faith in and the greatest respect for, is the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.
The Minister of Finance has always worked with the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner and he continues to work with her to ensure that he continues to act on her recommendations and go even further to have the full confidence of Canadians and continue the important work he does for all Canadians.
Matthew Dubé NDP Beloeil—Chambly, QC
Mr. Speaker, despite the Liberals' promises to be more open and transparent, what we have is an Information Commissioner who is getting a growing number of complaints for requests for information that are being denied before Bill C-58 is even passed by the House. It is completely unacceptable. The bill has not even become law yet. However, the commissioner is proposing amendments to improve the bill.
Will the Liberals keep their promises and work with us, the NDP, and with the Information Commissioner to truly improve access to information?
Scott Brison LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board
Mr. Speaker, we are the first government in more than 30 years to modernize the Access to Information Act. As I said in my first speech on Bill C-58, our intention is to raise the bar for openness and transparency. We are open to amendments for improving the bill and we look forward to working will all hon. members to improve this bill. We will continue to raise the bar—
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
Mr. Speaker, the minister keeps repeating that his government is the first in 30 years to make improvements to access to information. However, the Information Commissioner was very clear when she said the Liberals' Bill C-58 is regressive and that the status quo would be better than what the Liberals are proposing, meaning that Stephen Harper's government was more open and accountable than the current government.
Canadians were promised more accountability and transparency. Will the government work with us and help themselves by actually keeping an election promise?
Scott Brison LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board
Mr. Speaker, we are the first government in 34 years to act to modernize access to information. In fact, we are the first government to provide the Information Commissioner with real order-making power. We are applying the act, through proactive disclosure, to ministers' offices and the Prime Minister's office. We are applying the act to 240 federal entities, from the courts to the ports. This is a significant advancement.
We are raising the bar on the transparency and openness of government, and we will continue to do so.
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
Mr. Speaker, this week the Privacy Commissioner highlighted that the lack of heavy fines and legal penalties for privacy breaches means companies holding personal information on Canadians are unlikely to do everything they can to make sure that the data stays safe. The NDP has long advocated for stiffer penalties and to give the Privacy Commissioner actual teeth.
As more and more information is in the cloud, we need to put proper legal protections in place. Will this government commit to imposing severe fines on companies that fail to protect consumers' private information?
Navdeep Bains LiberalMinister of Innovation
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, privacy is very important to this government, particularly with respect to the digital economy and the fact that we have more data available.
We want to make sure that data is managed in a way that respects the concerns that consumers may have. That is why we recently published draft regulations for amendments made to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, or PIPEDA. We believe that this will empower consumers and encourage businesses to have better security practices.
These are the steps we are taking to protect consumers.
Matthew Dubé NDP Beloeil—Chambly, QC
Mr. Speaker, regulatory power and good intentions are all well and good, but if we really want companies to be more vigilant in protecting the private lives of Canadians, the reality is that the government has to go after what is most important to them: their wallets. That is exactly what the Privacy Commissioner is asking when he talks about fining businesses, like Equifax, who compromise the privacy of Canadians.
Will the minister follow up on the Privacy Commissioner's recommendation and take the necessary steps to actually begin fining large corporations who compromise the privacy of Canadians?
Navdeep Bains LiberalMinister of Innovation
Mr. Speaker, our government is taking action to protect the privacy of Canadians. As mentioned by the member opposite, Equifax recently confirmed a cyber-attack that resulted in a data security breach. We are obviously working very closely with the Privacy Commissioner. As I mentioned, the Privacy Commissioner understands the steps our government has taken to strengthen the provisions for consumers. That is why we recently published draft regulations and amendments under PIPEDA. We will continue to take steps to make sure that consumers and small businesses have their privacy protected, because it important for our government and important as we move forward in this new digital economy.
Shannon Stubbs Conservative Lakeland, AB
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are doing everything they can to keep their secrets under wraps. The finance minister hid details of his offshore companies and assets from the Ethics Commissioner while making decisions about companies he owns and regulates. He got caught and she fined him. He is in multiple conflicts, including with legislation, a government loan, and at least one tax treaty. It seems that other ministers are in the same mess.
When will the Liberals come clean with Canadians? What else are they trying to hide?
Joël Lightbound LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the finance minister, just like any other minister or parliamentarian, met with the Ethics Commissioner at the very beginning of his mandate to make sure that he would follow all of the rules and all of her recommendations. He has announced that he will go even above and beyond those.
What I see the Conservatives doing is everything they can not to talk about the economy. If we look back at the decade when they were in power, they had 1% growth in employment, the worst since the Second World War. If we look at the job numbers today, we have added 35,000 jobs in October. That puts us at half a million jobs created since we took office, most of them full time. I get that they do not want to talk about it, but that does not mean we should not talk about it.
Shannon Stubbs Conservative Lakeland, AB
Mr. Speaker, the finance minister got fined exactly because he did not follow the rules. The Information Commissioner said that it is harder to get information out of the current government than any other before.
The reality is that the finance minister used his power to enrich himself and his family's company. He is still hiding other assets within different holding companies, and there are other ministers in the same conflict, but the Liberals will not say who or how many, and the Prime Minister says there is nothing wrong.
The Liberals talk a lot about sunshine, but why are they still keeping Canadians in the dark?
Joël Lightbound LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the finance minister has always been transparent and forthcoming with the Ethics Commissioner. From the very beginning, he has followed all of the rules and all of her recommendations, just like any other minister or parliamentarian is expected to do. On this side of the House, we respect the work of the Ethics Commissioner, we respect her recommendations, and we will always work with the Ethic Commissioner to make sure that we live up to the highest standards.
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance was so nice to the Ethics Commissioner that he was found guilty and made to pay a $200 fine.
Two years ago, the Minister of Finance said that he would put his shares in a blind trust, but he never did. He also said that he did not have a controlling interest in Morneau Shepell, but that he had a controlling interest in a company that controlled the former. He was playing semantics. He forgot to mention that he had a villa in Provence, until the CBC brought it to light.
This minister takes action only after he is caught red-handed. In fact, he was again caught red-handed with his numbered companies.
When will the Minister of Finance finally tell Canadians the truth?
Joël Lightbound LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance worked with the Ethics Commissioner to ensure that he is following her recommendations and the rules of the House. He will continue to do so and has announced that he would do even more.
What the Minister of Finance did was something that the Conservatives and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whom my colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent admires so, never managed to do. The Minister of Finance has managed to to grow our economy and create more than half a million jobs.
According to the latest figures, 18,000 new jobs were added in Quebec in October. We are proud of this record, and that is not a claim they can make. I understand that they do not want to talk about the economy, but that does not mean that we should not.
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lévis—Lotbinière, QC
Mr. Speaker, the law is the law, but the finance minister's motto seems to be, “do as I say, not as I do”.
The purpose of the Conflict of Interest Act is to prevent any abuse by people who may have something to hide in numbered companies, for example. In this case, the Minister of Finance really seems to believe that he is above the law, as though the law does not apply to people like him and the Prime Minister.
How many other numbered companies does the Minister of Finance own, and what is he hiding in them?
Joël Lightbound LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, every parliamentarian is expected to work with the Ethics Commissioner, who is responsible for preserving the integrity of Parliament.
That is what the Minister of Finance has always done, and that is what he continues to do. He met with the Ethics Commissioner recently and announced that he will go the extra mile.
If my colleague wants numbers, I can give him some. Real GDP growth was 1.6% during the past decade when he was on this side of the House. That is the worst record in 69 years, since the time of Mackenzie King. Since we took office, real GDP growth has been 3.7%. It was dropping in 2015 and people were wondering whether we were in a recession.
Now, no one is asking that question. Canada has the highest growth in the G7, and half a million jobs have been created. That is the finance minister's record.
Jamie Schmale Conservative Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON
Mr. Speaker, well, the PBO says that growth will drop to 1.6% next year, which is not exactly fulfilling Liberal promises.
During the last election, the Liberal Party released a great literary work of fiction called “Real Change”. Perhaps a better title would have been “Surreal Change”. On page 3 of that great masterpiece, the Prime Minister asserted that transparent government is good government. Transparent government means a government open to public scrutiny.
When will his finance minister finally walk the walk and live up to every single election promise and reveal all of his personal holdings in every single one of his numbered companies?
