Debates of Nov. 6th, 2017

The Economy

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, the investments we are making in child care, skilled trades, training, and infrastructure will put more Canadians on the path to success. Since our government first took office, the Canadian economy has created over half a million jobs. We have seen 11 consecutive months of job growth, the best in a decade. As Bank of Montreal economist Doug Porter noted, September and October marked the highest two-month period of job growth on record. We ran on a plan to make smart investments to grow our economy and strengthen our middle class, and that plan is working.

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, the revenue minister seems to be proud of reaching into the pockets of disabled people and taking away their tax credits and pension plans, while the Prime Minister's chief political fundraiser is sheltering his fortune in an offshore tax haven. Canadians can see the Liberal hypocrisy.

Why will she not protect vulnerable Canadians and make Liberal friends sheltering their fortunes in offshore bank accounts pay the same fair share that they expect of all other taxpayers?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to ensuring that all Canadians receive the tax credits they are entitled to. We are moving forward with a national disability act that would remove barriers and improve access for all Canadians living with disabilities.

We have made it easier to access the disability tax credit, we simplified the forms, and in budget 2017, we made it possible for nurses to complete applications on their patients' behalf. We continue to work for the most vulnerable members of our society.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, for months, this department has been going after type 1 diabetics, and today this minister has told us how proud she is of her department.

Is she proud of targeting disabled Canadians? Is she proud of targeting low-wage earning retail employees? Is she proud of going after small businesses? When will the Liberal government get its priorities straight, back off of vulnerable Canadians, and go after real tax avoiders, including Liberal insiders?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, our government is fully committed to ensuring that Canadians receive the tax credits to which they are entitled. I would like my colleagues across the way to know that the legislation has not been amended. It has not been changed. The law is being applied the way it always has.

We will continue to work with our partners. We will continue to meet with them and we will continue to do better with our partners.

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the law may not have changed, but the way it is interpreted has, because the least fortunate are being targeted.

This summer entrepreneurs were the ones being targeted, and now it is people with type 1 diabetes. In fact, 80% of those people will no longer get their tax credit.

Why is the government picking on the most vulnerable in our society? Why is it not looking at what is going on with the Liberals' tax havens?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, our government is fully committed to fighting tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. In fact, over the past two years, we have invested nearly $1 billion to combat tax havens. This investment has helped our efforts to recover nearly $25 billion. Charges have been laid. That is what Canadians asked us to do and we are delivering.

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in the last few months, the Liberal government has been squeezing Canadian small businesses for more tax revenue. It has been taking away tax relief from families fighting diabetes, autism, and mental health issues.

However, what is the one group the Liberals have left alone? Their super-rich friends and those working hard to join them. When will the Prime Minister stop targeting hard-working Canadian families and start closing tax and ethics loopholes used by his friends?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I want to tell the Conservative members opposite that the law regarding disability tax credits has not been amended. On the contrary, in the past two years, benefits paid to persons with disabilities have increased.

Our government works for the middle class and for persons with disabilities. We increased the Canada child benefit to help families. We lowered the age of retirement, we increased the guaranteed income supplement—

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

Order. The hon. member for Vancouver East.

Public Safety

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, children and their families who have been impacted for years by the no-fly list are on Parliament Hill today demanding an end to this human rights violation.

There are children as young as six being denied from boarding flights. Canadians want to see a properly funded redress system in the 2018 federal budget, and they want an end to the hundreds, if not thousands, of false positives that have occurred to date.

When will the government finally heed these calls and end this injustice for families once and for all?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, we fully appreciate the frustration of law-abiding travellers who can be stigmatized and delayed as a result of false positives on the no-fly list.

However, to be clear, there are no children on the no-fly list, but there is confusion among similar names. That takes new legislation to fix that problem, new regulations, and a new computer system.

The first of those steps is being taken in Bill C-59. I urge the NDP to vote for it.

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-59, as those parents said today at their press conference, does nothing to fix the problem that they face every single time they try to travel. I would ask the minister if he wants to go in front of those families to tell them, “Do not worry, your child is not on the list.” These are the false positives that are being lived by thousands of Canadians.

Children, business people, and even veterans are finding travelling difficult. They are being humiliated, profiled, and are living in fear of ending up on the no-fly list.

Again I ask the minister: will she fully fund an actual redress system, yes or no?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, the problem is that the no-fly list that was designed 10 years ago contains an inherent design flaw that needs to be fixed. To fix it takes legislation and regulation and a new computer system built from the bottom up.

The first step is to pass Bill C-59 to give us the legal authority to do these things. I urge the NDP to support Bill C-59.

Ethics

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister defends tax havens by insisting that they do not actually need to be fixed, that there is no problem. Now, we thought the finance minister was just protecting his own interests within his family company, but it turns out that there is actually a whole crew of Liberals who are colluding together in order to keep these tax loopholes open.

My question is very simple, and that is: When did the Prime Minister become aware that the Liberal Party's head of revenue, Stephen Bronfman, was sheltering money in offshore accounts?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, our government is fully committed to combatting tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. In the last two budgets, we invested nearly $1 billion, and our plan is working. There have been 627 cases transferred to criminal investigations, 268 search warrants, and 78 convictions.

The Canada Revenue Agency is reviewing links to Canadian entities and will take appropriate action with respect to the Paradise Papers. We are working to make the tax system fair for Canadians.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, they say their plan is working, but it is the media that is working. That is how we know about the paradise papers.

The finance minister has defended offshore tax havens in places like Barbados by saying he does not want to throw out the baby with the bathwater. It seems that the babies the minister was referring to are a bunch of the Prime Minister's friends and Liberal Party donors.

When will the Prime Minister quit attacking farmers and small business owners and start investigating Liberal Party donors who are using offshore tax havens?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, our government is fully committed to fighting tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. I am proud of the leadership role Canada has taken on the international stage. Tax evasion is a global problem that requires collaboration with all of our international partners.

The nearly $1 billion we have invested is yielding results. We are on track to recoup close to $25 billion. Criminal charges are being laid, and search warrants are being executed. We made a promise to Canadians, and we are doing what we promised.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, middle-class Canadians continue to hear the Prime Minister demand tax fairness from them, but when it comes to Liberal Party donors and wealthy insiders, the Prime Minister practises instead tax forgiveness.

When will the Prime Minister end his two-tier taxation policy and start making Liberal insiders and donors pay their fair share of Liberal spending, rather than going after hard-working Canadian small business owners and farmers?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, as Minister of National Revenue, I can say that there will be no double standard. Everyone must obey the law. That is one of the conditions of a fair tax system. We made a promise during the election campaign, and we have taken concrete steps to fulfill that promise. We have invested nearly $1 billion, and our investment is bearing fruit. We are going to keep working for Canadians, as they asked us to do.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the effectiveness and compassion of our immigration system makes Canada an example for the world, but we know that we can always do better, including when it comes to immigration detention. Our government has made great steps on this, which can be seen in the significant drop in the number of people detained under immigration laws in the last two years.

Can the minister please tell us what more the government is doing to ensure that immigration detention, especially for minors, is used as rarely as possible?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, we are working very hard to improve the immigration detention system. I thank the member for Toronto—Danforth for being such a strong advocate.

Today I am announcing a new directive that includes the best interests of the child as a primary factor for the Canada Border Services Agency when making decisions affecting families. The goal is to avoid children in detention as much as humanly possible. We are committed to an immigration system that protects public safety while treating people with fairness, dignity, and compassion.

Ethics

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, new taxes for Morneau Shepell: zero. New taxes for the finance minister's family company in Barbados: zero. New taxes for the Prime Minister's multi-million dollar family trust fund: zero. New taxes for Stephen Bronfman's Cayman Islands tax shelter: zero. That is life in Liberal tax paradise.

With this hypocrisy now exposed, will the government finally apologize for insulting the integrity of hard-working, tax-paying small business owners across this country?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, our government is fully committed to fighting tax evasion and tax avoidance, to make sure the tax system is fair and equitable for all Canadians. In the last two budgets, we invested nearly $1 billion so the Canada Revenue Agency could focus on high-risk taxpayers overseas. Our investment is already bearing fruit, as we have recouped close to $25 billion in unreported income. The agency is reviewing links to Canadian entities and will take appropriate action with regard to the Paradise papers. We will continue to work for a fair tax system for all—

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Hochelaga.