Debates of Sept. 27th, 2017

Taxation

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have seen this movie before. It was the 2015 election campaign when the Conservatives were focused on me and on protecting wealthy Canadians. We were focusing on listening to Canadians and helping the middle class and those working hard to join it.

For 10 years that party gave tax breaks and advantages to wealthy Canadians and did not worry about the middle class. We changed that, and we will continue to change that. No matter how much the Conservatives shout, we will keep standing up for the middle class and those working hard to join it.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

It is not just us who are upset, Mr. Speaker. We are here as the voice of the millions of Canadians who are going to be hurt by his tax cuts.

The Conservative record on this is clear. Even the parliamentary budget officer agreed that Conservative changes “have been more progressive overall”, and that under the Conservative government, “low and middle income earners have benefited more, in relative terms, than higher income earners.”

Let us talk about the wealthy. The Prime Minister spent Monday with a Chinese billionaire, and last week he met for the third time with the CEO of BlackRock.

Why does the Prime Minister love spending so much time with his billionaire friends, but then he locks the door on hard-working middle-class Canadians?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to talk on Monday about the opportunities that small businesses across this country have to sell to the growing market in China.

Our government is working hard to be able to ensure that small producers, whether they be ice wines or cherries, lobsters or apparel, be able to pierce the Chinese market, and get good returns for their communities, for their country, and grow the economy.

These are the kinds of things we are busy working hard on to benefit directly the middle class, those working hard to join it, workers across this country, and yes, small business owners, who we know are the heart of growth in this country.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, so many families in Atlantic Canada rely on local businesses—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Excuse me, but I understand the member has already asked five questions.

The hon. member for Outremont.

Aerospace Industry

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, thousands of Canadians are worried about their jobs. Yesterday, we had a reality check with the Trump administration in Washington when it imposed ridiculously high tariffs on Bombardier, but it is not just the employees of Bombardier who are worried. Across Canada, companies that are part of its supply chain have every reason to be concerned.

What concrete action will the Prime Minister take to save those Canadian jobs?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform the House that our Minister of Foreign Affairs brought up this issue directly with trade representative Lighthizer today during the NAFTA negotiations.

We will continue to stand up for Canadian jobs every step of the way, defend our workers in the aerospace industry in Quebec, and right across the country. We know the punitive actions taken by Boeing are completely unfounded and without merit. We continue to stand by the Canadian aerospace industry, and we will fight for it every step of the way.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Watching the government deal with Trump is like watching Bambi deal with Godzilla, Mr. Speaker. It is not an even fight.

Is that the Prime Minister's answer? Tens of thousands of jobs across the country are in jeopardy.

When will the Prime Minister finally stand up and fight for aerospace jobs here in Canada?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we stand up every day to defend jobs here in Canada, and we will continue to do so.

In our dealings with the U.S. and countries around the world, we know that standing up for workers' interests and for the Canadian economy's ability to be innovative and grow is essential for the future success of Canada and the world.

We will continue to defend aerospace jobs across Canada, and we will continue to stand against the irresponsible actions of Boeing and the U.S.

Access to Information

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, from the Liberal platform, “We will make Parliament open by default. We will ensure that access to information applies to the Prime Minister’s and Ministers’ offices.”

From an audit released today on how open the government truly is, “...even worse than in the latter years of the former Stephen Harper government.”

Yesterday, the Access to Information Commissioner said she was “very disappointed” with the government.

As a former teacher, what grade would the Prime Minister give his government's performance on access to information?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we continue to raise the bar on openness and transparency by bringing forward the most significant changes to access to information since 1983.

We are empowering the Information Commissioner to order information to be released. We are expanding the act to include a system of legislative proactive disclosure for ministers' offices, the Prime Minister's Office, administration institutions that support Parliament, and others.

We have committed to making Parliament more open, accountable, and accessible to Canadians, and that is exactly what we are doing.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. I know it is Wednesday, and people are in a good mood. I know they are enthusiastic. I ask that they contain their enthusiasm, so we can all hear the answers, and especially so I can tell if somebody is breaking the rules.

The hon. member for Outremont.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, just a quarter of the requests were answered within the normal 30-day time limit, and a third of all the requests included in the audit received no response. When journalists do get answers, the documents are totally redacted, pages and pages of black ink.

Open by default is what we were promised. Will the Prime Minister admit that he messed this up?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are enhancing government openness and transparency by bringing in the most significant changes to the Access to Information Act since 1983.

We are empowering the Information Commissioner to order government information to be released. We are expanding the act to include a system of legislated proactive disclosure for ministers' offices, the Prime Minister's Office, and others. We are making key information, such as question period notes and briefing books for new ministers, available to all Canadians without anyone having to make an access to information request. When it comes to openness and transparency, we—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. The hon. member for Richmond—Arthabaska.

Taxation

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, more and more people are standing up against the Liberals' ad hoc tax reform: our local businesses, business associations, chambers of commerce, the provinces, and now even some Liberal members on that side of the House.

Will those members across the aisle have the courage to stand up and tell this Prime Minister that enough is enough, that he must not raise taxes on business people, who create jobs for themselves and their employees?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, for 10 years the Conservative government tried to create economic growth by giving tax breaks to the wealthy, but that did not work. That is why Canadians asked our government to fix the system, to make it fairer and more equitable, by raising taxes on the wealthy and lowering them on the middle class.

We will always support the middle class. We will always support our small businesses, but we want our system to be fair. That is why we are asking the wealthy to pay more.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that 81% of middle class families pay more taxes today than they did under the previous Conservative government. Now the Prime Minister is directly attacking our local businesses. His tax reform will destroy jobs across Canada by taking more money from small businesses and the middle class.

Is the new slogan of the Liberal Party and the Prime Minister, who will not even be affected by his own tax reform, “do as I say, not as I do”?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member wants to talk numbers, then let us be clear. There are 1.8 million private corporations in Canada. Of those 1.8 million, 30,000 hold 80% of the net investment. We think that those 30,000 corporations should pay their share of taxes. That is why we are making the system fairer. We are supporting the middle class, we are supporting small businesses, but we are going to ask the wealthy to pay their fair share.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the government House leader said this about the about the Liberal tax hikes: “The longer we're talking about this, the more people are concerned that they will be impacted, which is really raising a fear.” Well, she is right.

Entrepreneurs, small business owners, farmers, and their employees are worried sick about the impact of these Liberal tax changes. Here is the real slap in the face: these tax changes will have no impact on wealthy investments like those of the Prime Minister's.

Why are the Prime Minister's investments and business revenues untouched by these tax changes?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians watch these Conservatives stay focused on me, while I stay focused on Canadians. We are focused on small business owners who need help.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. It is getting much too noisy.

The right hon. Prime Minister has the floor.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Yes, Mr. Speaker, these Conservatives love to talk about me, but I want to talk about Canadians. I want to talk about those small business owners. I want to talk about hard-working Canadians who did not get a break for 10 years under a Conservative government.

We are going to continue to create benefits for the middle class and those working hard to join it, not just because it is the right thing to do but because that is what grows the economy. The Canada child benefit and the tax break for the middle class, these are the things that have led to the economic growth we are seeing now.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, there is a pattern with the Prime Minister talking about himself. He takes away child care benefits from families across Canada saying wealthy families like his do not need help with their child care. Then, he gets two full-time nannies paid for by, guess who, the taxpayer. He then says the rich should pay more, and he taxes all of our local businesses while his investment is protected.

Why is the Prime Minister always creating policy that protects him, and making hard-working Canadians pay his bills?