Debates of Dec. 13th, 2017

Student Debt Relief Act

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-389, an act respecting the development of a national strategy on student loan debt.

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to introduce this bill, the student debt relief act, with great thanks to my seconder, the hard-working member for South Okanagan—West Kootenay.

This legislation provides for the development of a national strategy with the objective of reducing student loan debt. Too many Canadian students have been forced to assume a crushing debt load simply to receive an education.

According to the Canadian University Survey Consortium, the average Canadian student will now graduate with over $26,000 in debt. This legislation looks to reduce student loan interest rates to prime rate, introduce incentives to complete a degree, including loan forgiveness, and establish rewards for on-time payments of loans, such as the possibility of interest rate reductions. New Democrats believe every Canadian student, who studies hard, should be able to access a world-class education without going deeply into debt.

Therefore, I call upon all parliamentarians to work together to make debt-free post-secondary education a reality for all students in Canada.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Employing Persons with Disabilities Act

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-390, an act respecting the development of a national employment strategy for persons with disabilities.

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to introduce this bill, the employing persons with disabilities act, again with thanks to my hard-working colleague, the member for Windsor—Tecumseh.

This legislation provides for the development of a national employment strategy to increase the economic participation of persons with disabilities. At present, there are over 400,000 working-age Canadians with disabilities who are not working, but whose disability does not prevent them from doing so. Almost half of these potential workers are post-secondary graduates.

People with disabilities have a great deal to contribute to our society. We must do more to improve workplace accessibility, and promote the participation of people with disabilities in the workforce. This legislation seeks to educate business owners and private sector employers about the potential of persons with disabilities, correct misconceptions that exist about employing persons with disabilities, encourage private sector employers to adopt more inclusive hiring practices, and promote the opportunities fund for persons with disabilities.

I call upon all parliamentarians to support these vital initiatives to have these wonderful, creative, talented people participate fully in our society and economy.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Pregnancy and Infant Loss

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Mr. Speaker, as I table this petition today I want to say that, as part of the October 15 campaign, I had the privilege and opportunity to walk alongside Canadians in support of thousands of families across our country who have suffered the loss of an infant.

Events in my home province of Alberta, like Quinn's Legacy Run in Airdrie, or the Baby Steps Walk to Remember in Calgary, Edmonton, and Sherwood Park, or Vaughn's Memorial Color Run in Cochrane, to events in Saskatoon like the No Foot Too Small Perinatal Loss Awareness Walk, to events like them all across the country, commemorate the lives of children who were taken too soon.

Therefore, I table this petition, which calls upon Parliament to walk alongside Canadian families, and to look for ways to better support parents dealing with pregnancy and infancy loss.

Falun Gong

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, as we prepare for the Christmas break, it is important to remember there will be political prisoners around the world spending this holiday season in prison, people who have committed no crimes other than to simply engage in practices or beliefs that the government where they are find threatening. Some of these people are Canadians.

In particular, I table a petition today drawing attention to the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. The petitioners note that Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that follows the principles of truth, compassion, and forbearance. However, 18 years ago, the Chinese Communist Party started a violent and illegal persecution against Falun Gong practitioners. The petitioners highlight this issue, and call upon the government to take strong action in response to it.

I personally had the opportunity to raise the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners with Chinese officials when I was in China two weeks ago. I encourage all members of Parliament to be seized with these issues, as well as other violations of fundamental human rights happening in the People's Republic of China, and continue to raise them at every opportunity.

Canada Post

[Sheri Benson, NDP, Saskatoon West, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to table two petitions.

The first petition was initiated by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, and asks the government to remedy a major issue for too many people living in small rural towns and villages across Canada.

Nearly two million Canadians lack access to local banking services, but with its existing networks, the petition asks that Canada Post sees itself as being well-equipped to fill the service gap. Postal banking could make banking services accessible to all Canadians.

The petitioners are calling on Parliament to add postal banking with a mandate for financial inclusion, and that the secret study conducted on postal banking by Canada Post be released.

Canada Revenue Agency

[Sheri Benson, NDP, Saskatoon West, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition I am honoured to table is on behalf of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada.

Public servants in the greater Toronto area are concerned by the Canada Revenue Agency service modernization initiative that will cause significant disruptions and hardships to many workers. This change has been green-lighted without meaningful consultation, and will result in a number of things, including relocation for some, longer commutes, and greater challenges for many employees who need child care, or care for an elderly family member.

Forcing public servants to scatter across Canada's largest city to their own detriment contradicts the government's promise to promote a healthy work-life balance for public service workers.

I am proud to present their petition today.

I would like to wish all my colleagues and my constituents, and especially you, Mr. Speaker, happy holidays and a happy new year.

Pensions

[Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, NDP, Hochelaga, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today I am honoured to present an e-petition signed by a few thousand people who deplore the fact that hundreds of pensioners are going to lose their pensions when their employer goes bankrupt. The petition also indicates that the Quebec National Assembly and Canada's unions support the petitioners in calling on the federal government to reform the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act to ensure that supplemental pension plans are considered preferred creditors in the event of bankruptcy or company restructuring.

I am very honoured to present this petition. I wish everyone the very best for the holidays.

Safety of Seafood Products from Vietnam

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition, signed by the Vietnamese community of Montreal, on the safety of seafood products imported from Vietnam, given that the Formosa steelworks dumped large amounts of toxic waste in the ocean in 2016, killing a huge number of fish and damaging the Pacific marine ecosystem along the coastline of central Vietnam.

Despite this ecological disaster, Vietnam continues to export fish, seafood, and derived products to other countries. The signatories call upon the Government of Canada to pay special attention to inspections of seafood and derived products from that part of the world in order to ensure they are safe for the Canadian public to consume.

Canada Post

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Speaker, standing with the Union of Postal Workers, residents of Nanaimo, Duncan, Ladysmith, and Whitehorse in Yukon urge the federal government to recognize that many rural people do not have access to banking services. Nearly two million people are without access to banking services, and are instead dependent on payday lenders.

The petitioners call on the government to add postal banking to Canada Post's mandate, including a mandate for financial inclusion, and also that the secret study Canada Post conducted on postal banking be made available to the public.

We commend the petition to this Parliament.

Human Rights

[Cheryl Hardcastle, NDP, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition regarding Canada being an active signatory to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and a signatory of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

That being said, there is a petition with 5,000 signatures from across Canada. The petitioners are concerned for the situation of U.K. citizen Jagtar Singh Johal. He was abducted, forcibly, by Punjabi police. He is receiving poor treatment, and has also been refused medical treatment.

We are encouraged, through this petition, to add our collective voices with our counterparts, who are also signatories to the convention, so we have justice and fair treatment for this gentleman.

Firearms

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to table a petition regarding the United Nations protocol against the illicit manufacturing and trafficking of firearms, which recommends that Canada adopt a system that will ensure that Canada can trace firearms that cross our borders.

The petitioners indicate that the RCMP currently successfully traces firearms through the use of a firearm's make, model, and serial number and that the serial number contains all the information required to trace a firearm. They add that Canadians have invested millions in the development of firearms reference tables and that the implementation of firearms marking regulations would impose costly, onerous, and unnecessary requirements on manufacturers and importers. The petitioners request that the government revise the firearms marking regulations protocol to recognize that the current serial number on imported firearms can be used to satisfy the UN's request.

The petitioners are from Mindemoya, Spanish, Espanola, Manitowaning, Elliot Lake, Webbwood, and 15 other communities in northern Ontario as well as from Huntsville.

On that note, Mr. Speaker, I want to wish you and my constituents all the best as we move into the holiday season.

Merry Christmas and happy new year!

The Environment

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, as many in this House know, but I do not know how many Canadians are aware, the petition process does not begin with petitioners at the age of 18. Any Canadian citizen can sign a petition.

This is the first time have had occasion to rise in this House to present a petition prepared by constituents in my riding, in particular from Salt Spring Island. The youngest petitioner is 11. As a mother, this chokes me up. It is from youth petitioners and those who care deeply about youth. The oldest petitioners are in their nineties. They are calling for action on climate change as an intergenerational threat.

The petitioners note that the Paris agreement was agreed to two years ago, that chances of hitting the Paris targets are vanishing, and that current government actions are not sufficient to meet the Paris targets. These youth call on the House of Commons to ensure that meaningful steps are put in place, and very soon, to ensure that they have a future.

Canadian Heritage

[Chandra Arya, Liberal, Nepean, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Haida, the most fighting ship in the Royal Canadian Navy, sank more enemy tonnage than any vessel in Canada's entire naval history. HMCS Haida served with distinction during the Second World War, the Korean War, and the Cold War, demonstrating throughout Canadian excellence at sea.

I rise to present petition e-560, initiated by Patrick White, which asks that HMCS Haida be recommissioned and recognized as the flagship of the Royal Canadian Navy, that it be examined as to the feasibility of including it as a permanent part of the Canadian War Museum, and that the Royal Canadian Mint commission a commemorative coin featuring the Battle of Vimy Ridge, Billy Bishop, and HMCS Haida.

Pay Equity

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, no one should be paid less due to gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. While we have legal equality in Canada, we still have not reached economic equality. I firmly believe in the principle of equal pay for equal work. I am proud to rise today to present an e-petition calling for equal pay legislation in Canada.

Statistics Canada and UN human rights reports have both highlighted concerns about pay inequalities between women and men. Specifically, they have found that pay gaps have disproportionate effects on our society's more vulnerable members, including low-income women, racialized women, and indigenous women. This principle of equal pay for equal work matters to Canadians. It is simply not fair to pay people differently based solely on their gender.

It is my honour to present e-petition 1136, initiated by Celine Yegani, of Edmonton Centre, asking our government to help ensure equal pay for equal work.

Taxation

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise and present this petition sparked by recent decisions by the Canada Revenue Agency that assessed some campgrounds as being too small to qualify for business deductions, resulting in tax rates over three times greater than other small businesses in Canada and even greater than some billion dollar enterprises.

These group campgrounds are in the same category as apartment buildings, mobile home parks, and other full-time residential complexes. If this decision is not reversed, some campground closures are expected. Therefore, my petitioners are requesting that Parliament and the department of finance ensure that family-run campgrounds are granted active business status, similar to other tourism operators, such as hotels, motels, and marinas, in order for campground operators to be able to claim a small business tax deduction.

Questions on the Order Paper

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 1291, 1294 to 1296, 1310, 1346, and 1353.

Question No. 1291

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

With regard to submissions to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) of Form RC193, Service-Related Complaint, since November 4, 2015: (a) how many submissions have been received; (b) for each submission in (a), what are the details, broken down by (i) nature of the complaint, (ii) topic, (iii) date of complaint, (iv) resolution desired by the complainant, (v) actions, including internal, taken by the CRA to resolve the complaint, (vi) on what date was the complaint closed, if applicable; (c) how many complaints have been submitted that specifically relate to the rejection or review of the admissibility of a claim for the Disability Tax Credit; and (d) for each submission in (c), what are the details, broken down by (i) nature of the complaint, (ii) topic, (iii) date of complaint, (iv) resolution desired by the complainant, (v) actions, including internal, taken by the CRA to resolve the complaint, (vi) on what date was the complaint closed, if applicable?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, what follows is the response of the Canada Revenue Agency, CRA, for the period of November 4, 2015 to October 26, 2017, that being the date of the question. With regard to part (a), for the above noted period, the CRA received 9,429 submissions.

With regard to part (b)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), and (vi), the CRA is not able to extract this level of detail from its systems without manual intervention and validation, which could not be completed in the time provided under paragraph 39(5)(a) of the Standing Orders.

With regard to part (c), while the CRA is unable to provide the number of complaints that have been submitted that specifically relate to the rejection or review of the admissibility of a claim for the disability tax credit without manual intervention and validation, it can confirm that 585 of the service complaints received were of the topic “credit--disability”.

With regard to part (d)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), and (vi), the CRA is not able to extract this level of detail from its systems without manual intervention and validation, which could not be completed in the time provided under paragraph 39(5)(a) of the Standing Orders.

Question No. 1294

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

With regard to Canada Post’s delivery service: (a) how many packages from China have been delivered; (b) what are the costs and the losses or profits, if any, for Canada Post resulting from these deliveries; and (c) under the Universal Postal Union rate structure, how much has the Chinese government paid the Canadian government in compensation for the packages delivered in (a)?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, Canada Post is an arm’s-length crown corporation that operates on a self-sustaining financial basis. The requested information is sensitive and commercial in nature and has always been treated as confidential.

Question No. 1295

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

With regard to tax information exchange agreements signed by Canada: (a) how many times has the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) obtained information from its partners under these agreements; (b) how many times has the CRA released information to its partners under these agreements; (c) for each time agreements in (a) and (b), what is (i) the country in question, (ii) the year?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to parts (a) and (b), Canada currently has 93 tax treaties and 22 tax information exchange agreements, TIEAs, in force.

Over the past six years, the CRA has had an average of 1,000 exchanges per year.

Providing details regarding treaty or TEIA exchanges, including statistics, on the number of requests that have been received by Canada would alert taxpayers to information that could allow them to avoid their tax responsibilities.

Confidentiality is the cornerstone of the exchange of information process because without this safeguard, our partners would be less likely to provide us with information. Treaty and TIEA partners diligently abide by their obligations. Providing this information could also be a breach of the confidentiality provisions of the ITA, section 241.

With regard to part (c)(i) and (ii), for the reasons outlined above, the CRA cannot reveal this information.

Question No. 1296

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

With regard to the efforts of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to combat tax evasion and tax havens: (a) how many Canadian business or taxpayer cases are currently open at the CRA; (b) how many taxpayer cases are currently closed at the CRA; and (c) for the cases in (a) and (b) in what year were the cases opened and in what year were they closed, broken down by income bracket?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a), the annual statistics provided in this response are recorded by fiscal year and on a quarterly basis. “Q1” and “Q2” in this response refer to the first two quarters of the 2017-18 fiscal year, up to September 30, 2017.

For this current fiscal year, up to the second quarter, as at September 30, 2017, the CRA has almost 5,800 taxpayers, including businesses, under audit in the programs related to aggressive tax planning, ATP, activities. This includes aggressive tax avoidance, high net worth individuals, and offshore audit activities.

In terms of criminal investigations, the CRA is committed to protecting the tax base by ensuring that cases of tax evasion are investigated and, where appropriate, referred to the Public Prosecution Services of Canada, PPSC, for criminal prosecution. For this current fiscal year, up to the second quarter, as of September 30, 2017, 195 cases were open in criminal investigations.

As with any criminal investigation undertaken by law enforcement bodies, CRA’s criminal investigations can be complex and require months or years to complete. This will be dependent upon the complexity of the case, the number of individuals involved, the availability of information or evidence, cooperation or lack thereof of witnesses or the accused, and the various legal tools that may need to be employed to gather sufficient evidence to establish a case beyond reasonable doubt.

With regard to part (b), the most recent statistics available are those of the number of cases completed or closed over the last two fiscal years, including the first two quarters of the 2017-18 fiscal year, up to September 30, 2017, Q1 and Q2.

In terms of ATP audits, for the period of April 1, 2015, to September 30, 2017, 22,074 files were completed.

With regard to criminal investigations, for the period of April 1, 2015, to September 30, 2017, 280 cases were closed either by the CRA’s criminal investigations program or by the PPSC. This includes files closed at the preliminary investigation and court stage.

With regard to part (c), the CRA does not track this information by income bracket; therefore, the information cannot be provided in the manner requested.

Question No. 1310

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

With regard to the Public Service Health Care Plan recoveries, as indicated in Volume II of the Public Accounts 2017, what explains the difference between the amount of $3,278,262 for the previous fiscal year and the amount of $157 for the current fiscal year?