House of Commons Hansard #230 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was economy.
Diane Lebouthillier LiberalMinister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, our government is fully committed to combatting tax evasion. We have invested nearly $1 billion over the past two years, and we can announce that we are very close to recovering $25 billion.
Our strategies and measures are yielding results. I want to reassure the public that the Canada Revenue Agency is reviewing links to Canadian entities, and we will take appropriate action.
Candice Bergen Conservative Portage—Lisgar, MB
Mr. Speaker, when Bronfman said that the goal was to raise a lot of money to help this guy become the next prime minister, he was not doing it as an act of charity. He, as all Liberals do, always wants something in return. He and the Prime Minister are close friends and Bronfman is an integral part of the Prime Minister's inner circle.
If the Prime Minister is truly concerned about the tax avoiders revealed in the paradise papers, will he instruct his party to return all the money raised by Bronfman, yes or no?
Diane Lebouthillier LiberalMinister 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.
I am proud of the leadership role Canada has taken on the international stage. Co-operation between revenue authorities, including the exchange of tax information, is an essential tool for maintaining the integrity of Canada's tax base.
Our efforts have borne fruit, as we are about to recoup $25 billion.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Speaker, Stephen Bronfman is the Prime Minister's top moneyman, and was the Liberal Party's “revenue chair”. The Prime Minister vacations with him. He even broke protocol to bring him to a state dinner with then President Obama. Now we know that he used a $60 million tax haven scheme to avoid paying his fair share in Canada.
If the Prime Minister wants to restore any credibility on the issue of tax fairness, will he immediately order the Liberal Party to give back all the money Stephen Bronfman raised for the Liberals?
Diane Lebouthillier LiberalMinister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, our government is fully committed to fighting tax evasion. The historic $1-billion investment we made in our last two budgets is yielding concrete, tangible results for Canadians. We are about to recoup $25 billion.
We investigate four new jurisdictions per year. Our plan is delivering results. We have had 627 cases transferred to criminal investigations, 268 search warrants executed, and 78 convictions. We continue to work for Canadians.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have spent another billion dollars on tax collectors. Who have those tax collectors gone after? Have they gone after Morneau Shepell? Have they gone after the billionaire Bronfman family, or have they instead decided to go after people suffering with diabetes, or after minimum wage-earning waitresses who enjoy a small chicken sandwich at the end of the shift or after small businesses and farmers? When will this high-tax hypocrisy come to an end?
Diane Lebouthillier LiberalMinister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, every Canadian has a friend or relative who is affected by mental health problems, and the social and economic costs are extremely high.
We are giving a record number of tax credits to people with disabilities and people with mental health problems. In budget 2017, we invested $5 billion so we could help 500,000 Canadians under the age of 25, and we will continue to focus on helping those most in need.
Pierre-Luc Dusseault NDP Sherbrooke, QC
Mr. Speaker, the government does not understand anything about international tax avoidance because it continues to ignore the fundamental problem of tax havens instead of addressing it.
The minister still believes that the solution to tax havens is to invest in the Canada Revenue Agency. However, the fundamental problem lies in our overly permissive legislation that the Liberal Party's cronies benefit from.
Could the minister get her head out of the sand, especially since she voted for an NDP motion calling for action against tax avoidance and tax havens? Why has the minister still not proposed any measures to put an end to this legal tax scam?
Diane Lebouthillier LiberalMinister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, if only my colleague opposite could show as many results as we have with respect to tax avoidance.
Over the past two years, we invested $1 billion. We are very close to recovering $25 billion. People are facing charges. We have been meeting with four new jurisdictions every year. Cases are being handed over to criminal investigations.
We are on track to meet Canadians' expectations. It is what we promised in our platform and we are keeping that promise.
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
Mr. Speaker, it did not take long for the Liberals to start acting like Liberals, placing wealthy friends ahead of everyday Canadians.
In March of this year, the Liberals voted in favour of the NDP's motion calling on the government to take action to tackle tax haven, including renegotiating tax treaties that let companies repatriate profits from tax havens to Canada tax free. Here is a spoiler alert; they have not done any of it yet.
Did the Prime Minister refuse to act on tax havens to help his wealthy friends?
Diane Lebouthillier LiberalMinister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, our position on the issue was quite clear during the campaign.
We said we would combat tax evasion and tax havens. We have invested $1 billion over the past two years. We have produced results for Canadians. We are going to recoup close to $25 billion. We have criminal investigations under way. We are working with tax administrations around the world.
I can say that I am very proud of the international leadership role we have taken.
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Mr. Speaker, a major ethics crisis involving the Prime Minister of Canada is tarnishing Canada's international reputation.
We now know that Stephen Bronfman, the Liberal Party's chief fundraiser, had questionable dealings with tax havens. Mr. Bronfman is a close friend of the Prime Minister. They are so close, in fact, that when the Prime Minister visited the White House a year and a half ago, he left his Minister of Natural Resources behind but brought his good friend Bronfman, the Liberal Party's top bagman, to the White House with him.
Can the Prime Minister give us just one good reason why he left his Minister of Natural Resources in Ottawa and brought along his close Liberal friend and fundraiser?
Diane Lebouthillier LiberalMinister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, our government is firmly committed to combatting tax evasion and tax avoidance. What we want is a fair and equitable tax system for all Canadians. Our actions are producing results. We have invested close to $1 billion over the past two years, which will enable us to recoup nearly $25 billion.
I am very proud of the international leadership role we have taken. We are working with our partners around the world. That is what Canadians asked us to do, and that is what we are going to do.
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Mr. Speaker, as everyone knows, the Prime Minister is very close to the Bronfman family and to Stephen Bronfman in particular. This reflects poorly on Canada. Here is what the influential newspaper The Guardian wrote this morning: “The chief fundraiser and senior adviser to the Canadian Prime Minister...who played a critical role in [his] rise to power...”. That is huge. We are not talking about some humble supporter who put out some lawn signs. This is the money man who helped get the Prime Minister where he is today.
Can the Prime Minister give us one good reason why, when he went to Washington, he left the Minister of Natural Resources in Ottawa but took his Liberal buddy—
Diane Lebouthillier LiberalMinister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, our government is fully committed to combatting tax evasion. I do not understand my colleagues across the way. The Conservatives' hypocrisy is stunning. A former Canada Revenue Agency minister, Jean-Pierre Blackburn, even had the nerve to say that tax evasion was not even a priority for the Conservative government.
We made an election promise to crack down on tax evasion, we are taking action, and we will continue to work to ensure that everyone pays their fair share and that we have a tax system that is fair for all Canadians.
John Brassard Conservative Barrie—Innisfil, ON
Mr. Speaker, if we want to talk about hypocrisy, let us talk about two sets of tax rules, one for Liberals and one for everyday working-class Canadians.
Bronfman and his associates are reported to have engaged in bogus record-keeping, false invoicing, and six-figure gifts to avoid paying tax. The Prime Minister continues to protect him. The Prime Minister is so close to Bronfman that at the height of a softwood lumber dispute, he took him to the White House instead of the natural resources minister. Canadian taxpayers paid for that trip.
We ask the government again, what business did Bronfman have at the White House?
Diane Lebouthillier LiberalMinister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, in our first two budgets, we invested nearly $1 billion, a historic amount, to combat tax evasion and tax avoidance. Our plan is working. There have been 627 cases transferred to criminal investigation, 268 search warrants and 78 convictions. The Canada Revenue Agency is scrutinizing links to Canadian entities and will take appropriate measures. We continue to work toward a tax system that is fair and equitable for all Canadians.
Mark Strahl Conservative Chilliwack—Hope, BC
Mr. Speaker, a Liberal is Liberal is a Liberal, and we can always count on them to be entitled to their entitlements, entitled to take private helicopters on private island vacations, entitled to taxpayer-funded nannies, entitled to protecting their vast family fortunes from many unfair tax changes, entitled to setting up offshore tax havens in France, Barbados, or the Cayman Islands. Canadians are entitled to know, why do they always end up footing the bill when these lifestyle of the rich and famous Liberals pay less?
Diane Lebouthillier LiberalMinister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to combatting tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. I want to reassure Canadians that, personally, as the minister responsible for the Canada Revenue Agency, I have no one to protect. There are laws that apply and they will apply to everyone so that we have a tax system that is fair and equitable for all Canadians.
Scott Duvall NDP Hamilton Mountain, ON
Mr. Speaker, today, after consulting with workers across the country, I am tabling a private members' bill to protect the pensions of workers. Currently Canada's bankruptcy laws do not protect workers' pensions and benefits. The Prime Minister knows this, which is why he promised workers in my hometown that he would improve retirement security for Canadians. However, he has so far refused to fix the rules that let companies shortchange workers' pension plans. Workers fulfill their obligations, and companies and the Liberal government must do the same.
Will the Prime Minister keep his promise and work with me to protect our pensioners, yes or no?
Navdeep Bains LiberalMinister of Innovation
Mr. Speaker, our government supports secure pensions. More importantly, we understand workers and their families and the dedication and commitment they make to various companies. It is important that we work with them.
With respect to the CCAA process, that process is designed to help companies in financial distress, so that they can restructure their affairs in order to come out of that restructuring process to help, preserve, and create thousands of jobs.
With respect to Sears, the current issue at hand, we are working with Sears Canada employees across the country, and Service Canada, in order to provide assistance and support to the workers and their families.
Sheila Malcolmson NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Mr. Speaker, the murdered and missing indigenous women's inquiry says that its slow progress is due to Liberal interference. In fact, it reports that eight out of 10 challenges are barriers put up by the Liberal government, like strangling bureaucracy and lack of resources. It is clear the Liberals misled families when they promised they were doing everything they could to help this inquiry succeed.
Will the Liberals support the families of missing and murdered indigenous women, and when will they stop blocking the inquiry's work?
Carolyn Bennett LiberalMinister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs
Mr. Speaker, the important work of the commission is crucial to getting the answers the families have been waiting decades for, and to ending this ongoing tragedy. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that the commission has all the support it needs to succeed. We have struck a working group to create and provide effective back-office support to the commission to ensure it is able to do its work effectively. Families must and will get the answers they need.
Marwan Tabbara Liberal Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON
Mr. Speaker, people in my riding of Kitchener South—Hespeler in the Waterloo region are proud of our government's commitment to grow the economy, create jobs, and strengthen the middle class. They know that the smart investments our government is making will help more Canadians find and keep good well-paying jobs.
Can the minister update this House on what our government is doing to grow the economy and ensure every Canadian has a fair shot at success?
