Debates of Sept. 28th, 2017

Justice

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he seems to be forgetting that these rights violations happened under a Liberal government. Now he claims he is outraged, and that he is so angry. I am sure his hands were just shaking in anger as he was adding more and more zeroes to the cheque he gave to Omar Khadr.

Canadians are outraged over this. They are outraged that he completely ignored Omar Khadr's victims and their families. They are outraged that Omar Khadr received $10.5 million of their money while the Prime Minister continues to fight veterans in court. The previous Conservative government respected the decision by the courts and repatriated Omar Khadr. That was the only compensation he was entitled to.

Why did the Prime Minister go over and above that?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the previous government violated Omar Khadr's fundamental rights. What is at issue is not Omar Khadr's behaviour, it is the behaviour of the Canadian government. When the Canadian government does not defend people's rights, we all end up paying. That is the principle that is at play here, and it is one that everyone, particularly members of the Conservative Party, need to remember.

We cannot just stand up for rights when it is easy or popular, we have to do it when it is hard too.

Taxation

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of Finance admitted that the Liberal tax reform for small businesses poses, and I quote, some problems.

I must say that I am impressed by the minister's ability to underestimate. The Prime Minister keeps saying that he will not budge on his tax increases.

Does the Prime Minister agree with his Minister of Finance, who says that the Liberal plan poses serious problems, and will he cancel it?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, for weeks and months we have been hearing from Canadians who have questions and concerns about our proposed plan to ensure that all Canadians pay their fair share of taxes. We hear those concerns and we can assure Canadians that we will continue to protect and help the middle class while asking the wealthiest Canadians to pay their share of taxes.

That is what Canadians expect from this government and that is what we will do as the government.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the record on these tax issues is clear. It was our Conservative government that lifted more than one million low-income Canadians off the tax rolls all together. The parliamentary budget officer confirmed that Conservative tax changes benefited low and middle-income Canadians far more than any other group.

This Prime Minister decreased tax revenue from the 1% by over a billion dollars, and he has raised taxes on 81% of middle-class families who are paying almost $1,000 more per year because of him.

Why is it that every time this Prime Minister tries to help the middle class, they always wind up paying more?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, the first thing we did was lower taxes on the middle class, and raise them on the wealthiest 1%. Canadians might ask why the Conservatives voted against those measures.

The next thing we did was bring in a Canada child benefit that gives more money to 9 out of 10 Canadian families by not sending child benefit cheques to millionaires, a program that will lift hundreds of thousands of kids out of poverty.

Right now, we are looking at ensuring the system no longer encourages wealthy Canadians to use private corporations to pay lower taxes than middle-class Canadians. That is what we are going to stay with.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, there is one millionaire who is still getting help from taxpayers for his child care, and that is the Prime Minister.

We know the Prime Minister currently owns at least two numbered companies which help manage his vast family fortune. We also know he incorporated a small business back when he was billing charities for thousands of dollars just for the privilege of listening to him speak, but now he wants to kick the ladder out from other small business owners who are trying to get their own operations off the ground.

Could the Prime Minister explain why he set-up his speaking business? Was he one of the wealthy Canadians who incorporated to avoid paying taxes?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we recognize that we have inherited from previous governments, including the Conservative government, a system that favours the wealthy, that offers advantages to wealthy Canadians that are not there for middle-class Canadians.

We have committed, both in the election campaign and since, to fix that system, to change those rules, to make sure we are giving help to middle-class Canadians. and those working hard to join it, and not to the wealthiest Canadians.

The previous government was quick to help wealthy Canadians. We are focused on the middle class, and those working hard to join it.

Canadian Heritage

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are used to selling out the country's interests to their friends without asking for anything in return. Today, we have another example with Netflix. We have no guarantee as to Canadian content, French content, content for indigenous peoples, or content that reflects our history and our identity.

After 50 years of strong cultural policies in Ottawa, the Minister of Canadian Heritage is going to hand over the responsibility for our cultural policies to an American company.

Have we stooped to sub-contracting the protection of our culture to the Americans?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are determined to grow our creative sector with new investments that open up opportunities to creators and producers across Canada.

Our creative Canada plan will help fund high-quality, unique, and varied Canadian content for Canadian and global audiences. Our plan includes an unprecedented investment by Netflix in Canada, the first of its kind in the world to be announced, and it will create good jobs for Canadian creators. Canada is a good place to invest. We are proud of our cultural community and we will continue to invest in our future.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it almost sounds like the government plays favourites with our friends to the south. The Canadian media industry asked for a level playing field on publicity, yet in the announcement today the minister failed to mention anything about Google, Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.

Worse, the government spent $13.7 million on ads on those platforms. While our industry is in danger, the government is giving money to foreign companies without asking them to pay their fair share.

When will the minister protect Canadian content and jobs?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have world-class content creators and creative industries. We know that investing in them, and supporting our creators is the best way to ensure not just that Canadians hear our stories but the people around the world understand and hear the stories that Canadians have to tell.

We are incredibly proud of the innovative work that our minister of heritage has done to look at the future of broadcasting and creativity, and recognize that we can move forward with strength and pride, relying on the extraordinary capacity of our creators to create great content for the world.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if only they had ears.

The heritage minister is surely not receptive to recommendations from the industry or provincial governments. She automatically rejected the possibility of making foreign companies pay their fair share like any other Canadian company. She claimed she did not want Canadians to pay more taxes.

However, it is interesting to note that Netflix raised its prices, netting itself almost $100 million more, just before announcing the deal. Is it a coincidence? The minister might be proud of this, but the cultural sector is worried. That is $100 million per year.

Had Netflix not already committed to spending that on Anne of Green Gables?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are incredibly proud of our cultural industries, and we know that building stronger cultural industries for the 21st century, recognizing the transformation of the broadcast universe, is something we need to do to guarantee the kinds of good jobs that our producers, creators, crews, and innovators across the creative industries are demonstrating every single day.

We will continue to fight for our creative industries. We will continue to fight to share our stories with the world. This is good news for creativity in Canada. It is great news for the future of Canadian cultural industries.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are sharing our money with the Americans.

Over the past few weeks, the Liberals have been going after little fish instead of big fish. They had a golden opportunity to get it right with the Minister of Canadian Heritage's announcement, which could have required online companies to pay their fair share just like Canadian companies do. Once again, they dropped the ball.

Do the Liberals understand that equality means treating everyone the same? Will the Prime Minister commit to making Netflix pay its fair share, or is he going to pull a fast one, as he and his cronies always do?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud to announce that Netflix is going to invest $500 million in Canada. This money will encourage our creators and fund the production of high-quality content across the country. We know that the future is changing for our creative industries. The leadership this government is showing in building that future is something we can all be proud of.

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, is the Prime Minister aware that 90% of our jobs are created by our SMEs, our local entrepreneurs, our farmers, and our professionals? They are proud people who work hard every day, are active in their communities, and struggle every day to create jobs in Canada.

Will the Prime Minister please stop trying to take more money out of their pockets so he can pay down his enormous deficit, which he created all on his own?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we know how important SMEs are to our economy. We know that it is very important to have a low tax rate for SMEs. We currently have the lowest tax rate for SMEs in the G7. That is very important. At the same time, however, we must have a system that is fair. Under our current system, wealthy people can simply set up a private company to benefit from a lower tax rate. We want to ensure we have both a very low tax rate for SMEs and a system that is fair for all Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, only Liberals would believe that upping taxes creates jobs. Only a Liberal prime minister would talk to our business people about not paying enough tax when he knows full well that he will never pay a penny more under his new tax system. Only a Liberal prime minister would think he has a thing or two to teach local business people when he himself cannot even get his own deficit spending under control.

I have one simple question: Will the Prime Minister do his job and let business people do theirs, which is creating jobs?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we are doing our job. It is very important to have a growing economy. It is very important to make things better for the middle class by lowering taxes. We have also introduced a very important measure for people across the country. We introduced the Canada child benefit, which has helped both families and the economy. Now that we have a growing economy, it is very important to have a fair tax system. That is our goal, and it will be good for our economy.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance committed in writing “to abstain from any participation in any matters or decisions...relating to Morneau Shepell”. Today, experts told the finance committee that, as a result of the Liberal changes, the finance minister's changes, individual pension plans will become more popular and more used. A witness also said that the minister's family company, Morneau Shepell, provides individual pension plans to Canadians. Why did the minister not recuse himself from discussions surrounding these changes.

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, one of my key jobs as finance minister is to make sure we have a tax system that is not creating inappropriate incentives. Right now we have a system that creates inappropriate incentives for the wealthiest to arrange their affairs in such a way that they can pay lower taxes than the middle class. We are going to make sure our system is actually fair. At the same time, what we want to do is make sure there are incentives for businesses to invest in their business to grow the economy, to create jobs. We are doing this. It is going to make an enormous difference and a continuing difference for our economy and for Canadians across our land.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is non-answers like that, that are causing Canadians to become suspicious. It is clear that Morneau Shepell has a very clear opportunity to benefit from these changes. The minister told Canadians in writing that he would recuse himself from any discussions surrounding Morneau Shepell.

Again I ask the minister this. Why did he not recuse himself when discussions around these tax changes came up, when they so clearly affect his family company?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, taxes affect every Canadian across our country. They affect every business across our country. What we know is that what we have done with taxes since we have come into office has been particularly important for our economy: lowering taxes on middle-class Canadians while we raise them on the top one per cent; introducing the Canada child benefit; creating a great situation for nine out of 10 families; and helping our economy at the same time. We are going to make sure our tax system is fair for the long term. We are going to make sure people continue to invest in our economy. We can do those two things at the same time.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Andrew Lovell is a farmer from New Brunswick who is looking forward to passing his farm on to his kids. Today he testified before the finance committee that the minister's amendments to section 84.1 of the Income Tax Act would double the tax that his family would pay on that transaction. Meanwhile, there would be no tax if he sold the farm to McCain Foods. That means that farms like Andrew's will be taken over by big corporate giants.

Will the minister announce today that he is backing down on the draft legislation that would take Andrew's farm out of his family?