Debates of March 7th, 2017

Taxation

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, according to Wikipedia, carbon black is a material produced by the incomplete combustion of heavy petroleum products such as coal tar. Carbon black is used to produce pigment for ink, the kind of ink the government is using to black out the cost of a carbon tax.

My question is this. How many tonnes of GHGs were emitted to produce the ink to cover up the cost of the carbon tax?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to see the member of Parliament for Abbotsford back in the House. I also see there is now a tag team where we have the member for Abbotsford and the member for Carleton saying the same thing.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order, please. We are all very happy about these things of course, but let us let the Minister of Environment finish her answer.

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am going to keep on repeating what I continue to repeat, that putting a price on carbon pollution makes good business sense. It is going to create good jobs. It is going to help create a clean growth economy. It is going to ensure a better future for our kids.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, they thought they were going to have an easy day over there today, but not so fast.

Earlier today, the Prime Minister managed to sandwich into one answer both his love of the middle class and transparency and openness, while he is about to vote for a motion opposing the release of transparent information on the cost to the middle class of his very own carbon tax.

Will he do as he promised during the election and vote today to end the carbon tax cover-up so middle-class Canadians will finally know what they will pay in new Liberal taxes?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, let me talk about costs.

Let us talk about the cost of inaction when it comes to tackling climate change. We know that the costs right now have risen to $1 billion per year for Canadian taxpayers. That is to cover the costs of floods, that is to cover the costs of forest fires, and that is to cover the costs of droughts.

We know we need to take action on climate change because it is the right thing to do. It will help us ensure that we have a sustainable future, and it will create good jobs and create economic growth.

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, do you know who gave external legal advice for the KPMG scheme? It was Dentons law firm. Who organizes exclusive soirees at international tax conferences? Dentons law firm. Who attended one of these exclusive soirees last fall? Justice Bocock of the Tax Court of Canada. Who is the judge overseeing the case involving the Cooper family, which is appealing the CRA decision? You guessed it, it is Justice Bocock.

Two plus two equals four, and Canadians can see through this.

Does the Minister of Justice believe that the Canadian Judicial Council should conduct a thorough review of this judge's inappropriate behaviour?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, it was thanks to the efforts of the Canada Revenue Agency that KPMG'S offshore tax avoidance schemes were discovered. My colleague knows full well that the KPMG case is active. We are currently in court and cannot divulge any information, as that would jeopardize our efforts.

I can assure the House that the CRA is conducting a preliminary investigation into the schemes in place in the Isle of Man. The work has begun and we will see it through, as promised during the election campaign.

Canada Revenue Agency

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

Mr. Speaker, when the Liberal government lets KPMG hide a rich client's money on the Isle of Man, does it consider the message it sends to honest taxpayers? It is precisely because of these practices in tax havens that we cannot properly care for our seniors or support our students.

Treaties with tax havens amount to robbery. They pay peanuts over there and send nothing back.

Will the Liberal government revisit these treaties so that these companies pay their fair share, like everyone else?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I am terribly pleased to be able to provide information to my colleague across the way. I can say that the agency is conducting a preliminary investigation into the offshore structures of the Isle of Man. Our investments of $444 million allowed us to hire 100 auditors last year. We managed to recover $13 billion last year. The work has begun, and we will see it through.

Foreign Investment

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the saga of the sale of the B.C. retirement homes to mysterious Chinese investors is getting murkier.

We know the Prime Minister was approached at a cash for access fundraiser regarding this deal. Yesterday, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development had to stand in the House and apologize for misleading Canadians regarding the true ownership. Twenty operating licences were issued in one week. Clearly the fix was in.

One of the residents phoned me and said she was very worried about this issue and how it would affect vulnerable seniors.

Again, will the minister finally show some respect and tell these seniors who owns their home?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, again, I do not understand why the member opposite is opposed to global investment in Canada. Investment is so critical for growing our economy and creating jobs and opportunities for Canadians.

With regard to the specific transaction, we reviewed it under the Investment Canada Act. We did our due diligence. We determined it was in our overall net economic benefit. The additional resources that Cedar Tree will provide Retirement Concepts for expansion will create opportunities, growth, and jobs. That is good for British Columbia. That is good for the economy.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that the government has put tens of thousands of seniors homes and care in jeopardy. Nobody will do business with Anbang Insurance because of the murky ownership, not even Wall Street firms, but the Prime Minister will.

After lobbying at one of his many cash for access events, and after filling the coffers of the Liberal Party, Anbang was fast-tracked by senior care facilities in B.C. The minister then misled Canadians into thinking that these senior homes would be owned by Canadians, but yesterday he admitted that this was not true.

Will the minister finally tell Canadians who owns Anbang Insurance?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, Retirement Concepts now is managed by Canadians and it is going to be operated by Canadians to serve Canadians. It will have additional resources by Cedar Tree. These additional resources will allow the company to expand, and when it expands, that will create opportunities for seniors. These additional resources will also create economic opportunities like good-quality jobs.

We are a government that supports global investment. We believe in growing the economy. We believe in supporting the health care sector. We believe this is an overall net economic benefit. That is why we approved this transaction.

Ethics

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a person of real integrity and transparency does not get caught with his hand in the cookie jar over and over again, as is the case with the Prime Minister. There are many examples of his lack of judgment. I am thinking of his $1,500 cash for access parties for the rich, or his helicopter trips that violate the rules.

The more we get to know this Prime Minister, the more we see that he thinks he is above the law.

Could the Prime Minister set aside his elastic conscience and demonstrate transparency and integrity in the important decisions he must make in the interest of all Canadians?

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism]

Mr. Speaker, we always have the best interests of Canadians in all that we do. That is why we cut taxes for the middle class. That is why we are giving more to families whose children have greater needs.

The Prime Minister has said many times that he will answer all the Commissioner's questions.

Government Accountability

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Grande Prairie—Mackenzie, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect the Prime Minister to answer questions in the House.

Let us review question period thus far. We have a Prime Minister who will not answer questions about his own ethical violations. We have a finance minister who continues in his carbon tax cover-up. We have a minister of industry who still will not admit to Canadians who he is selling our seniors residences to. The cover-ups, the misleading, and quite frankly the outright lack of integrity are what the Liberals have become.

When will the Prime Minister start leading the government the way Canadians expect? When will he clean up this mess?

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to rise in the House and to remind Canadians exactly what this government has been doing. We have had unprecedented levels of consultation with Canadians. We are working better with provinces, territories, and municipalities. We are making historic investments in infrastructure so that we can actually create the opportunities and make the investments Canadians need us to create. We have lowered taxes on middle-class Canadians by increasing taxes on one per cent of the wealthiest Canadians. What did the Conservatives do? They voted against it every time.

Foreign Affairs

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in light of North Korea's actions, it is more important than ever for the international community to work toward nuclear disarmament.

It is not enough to hide behind the treaty to ban the production of fissile materials. We need to be more ambitious if we want to eliminate this threat.

My question is simple. Will Canada participate in the negotiations on nuclear disarmament taking place in New York this month, yes or no?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.

We are working hard to ensure that our children will inherit a world free of nuclear weapons. That means making tangible progress. Under our government, for the first time, Canada rallied 177 states to support a United Nations resolution calling for a fissile material cut-off treaty. That is real action, a major step toward a world free of nuclear weapons.

Status of Women

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

Mr. Speaker, on the eve of International Women's Day, the government's failure to walk the talk on feminism is in the spotlight. A new report card from Oxfam finds little progress on nearly every front and condemns the government for its complete failure to take action on pay equity. Canadian women still earn just 74¢ for every dollar that a man makes, and we have fallen dramatically in international rankings.

Does the minister really believe that women should wait even longer to get equal pay for work of equal value?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, our government knows that ensuring equal pay for work of equal value is critical to closing the gender wage gap, and that is why our government has moved forward to introduce proactive pay equity legislation.

We will be engaging with stakeholders and experts during the policy process to ensure that the legislation meets the goal of ensuring the right of equal pay for work of equal value.

Finance

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in my riding of Hull—Aylmer and across Canada, our plan to create long-term economic growth will help Canada's middle-class and everyone working hard to join it.

Could the Minister of Finance give the House and all Canadians an update on our plan?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to inform you that I will be presenting the next step of our plan for the middle class in the House on Wednesday, March 22, 2017, at 4 p.m. Budget 2017 will ensure our success in the economy of the future.

On March 22 at 4 p.m., I will present the next steps in our plan for the middle class and those working hard to join it.

Our budget will create jobs, invest in our communities—I will just keep talking—