Debates of Oct. 30th, 2018

Veterans Affairs

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it has been two months since the outrageous news broke that convicted murderer, Chris Garnier, was receiving veterans benefits despite having never served a day in his life. At the time, the minister promised veterans answers, yet no answers came.

When given a chance, every member on the Liberal side of the House voted against stripping Chris Garnier of these benefits. Since then, we have learned that veterans applying for benefits they have earned are being forced to wait months, and sometimes years, for those benefits. We have learned that the Liberal government's pension scheme is a shell game, and if people challenge the government on it, like Sean Bruyea did, it will send in high-priced lawyers to shut them up.

Susan and Dwight Campbell, the parents of Chris Garnier's victim, Catherine Campbell, are still waiting for answers. Enough is enough. The Prime Minister needs to show leadership, step in and revoke these benefits.

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

[Pam Goldsmith-Jones, Liberal, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of all members and senators and all parties represented in this place, we warmly welcome all those involved in Kids for a Cure Lobby Day organized by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Twenty eight young people, aged six to 15, are here in Ottawa to meet members of Parliament and senators to enlighten us about the 24 hours a day, 365 days a year of blood-sugar testing, insulin doses, and the lows and highs of life with type 1 diabetes.

At the same time as raising awareness, these young advocates are here to thank parliamentarians for listening to them and to thank us for supporting the world-leading research conducted by Canadian scientists who are dedicated to turning type 1 into type none.

The juvenile diabetes caucus is truly non-partisan and we welcome new members. On behalf of all my colleagues in the House, we are truly inspired by the courage and leadership in Ottawa this week shown by Kids for a Cure.

Privacy

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, StatsCanada has written Canada's nine largest financial institutions and demanded that they hand over millions and millions of financial transactions by hundreds of thousands of Canadians, and were it not for a Global News report, Canadians would never know that the government was this far into their personal information. They know now and they are appalled.

Will the Prime Minister use his power and direct StatsCan to cease and desist?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our government is ensuring that the personal data of Canadians is protected. Statistics Canada will use anonymized data for statistical purposes only. No personal information will be made public.

Statistics Canada is actively engaged with the Privacy Commissioner's office on this project and is working with it to ensure that Canadians' banking information remains protected and private.

However, high-quality and timely data are critical to ensuring that government programs remain relevant and effective for Canadians.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this is not the first time the government has sought to receive private information from Canadians and not told them.

In October 2017 and January 2018, Statistics Canada demanded that the TransUnion Credit Bureau hand over millions of files to the government, and these were not anonymous. It demanded social insurance numbers, names, addresses, dates of birth, detailed credit information, balances owed, balances overdue and 30 other fields of data.

Will the Prime Minister tell Statistics Canada to stand down?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, for a lot of Canadians this line of questioning by the Conservatives is all too familiar. For 10 years under them in government, they chose to govern by ideology and not by facts or science. When facts got in the way, they simply stopped collecting them. They fired the chief science adviser and eliminated the long-form census. We brought back both of them.

Statistics Canada is of course engaged with the Privacy Commissioner's office on this project to ensure that the information of Canadians remains protected.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

I want to be very clear, Mr. Speaker.

The Prime Minister is telling Canadians that it is okay for their government to understand all of their financial information held by banks, all of their financial information held by credit agencies, all of their financial information held by utilities and by their mobile phones. Every single thing we use in our lives is something that the current government wants to have its hands on. This is ridiculous.

Will the government tell Statistics Canada to back down from—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The Right Hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what we are seeing here is that the Conservative Party of Canada learned nothing from Canadians in the 2015 election. When we restored the long-form census as the very first thing we did when we took office in 2015, Canadians from coast to coast to coast cheered.

The Conservatives attack data, science and evidence as the grounding of strong public policy. They continue to show they are still the party of Stephen Harper, that they are still the party of a war on science and facts.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. I would remind the hon. member for Edmonton Manning and others that the time to speak is when they have the floor, which one would think will happen eventually.

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

Mr. Speaker, here are the facts: Statistics Canada wants to access the information of more than 500,000 Canadians without their consent. It wants to know our bank withdrawals, credit card purchases and even our social insurance numbers.

The Prime Minister told the House of Commons yesterday that he supports this practice that allows the Liberal government to get the personal information of Canadian citizens without informing them.

How can the Prime Minister agree to this request and allow this to happen?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this is how. On this side of the House, we have confidence in the Privacy Commissioner.

We always ensure that the personal data of Canadians is protected. Statistics Canada will use anonymized data for statistical purposes only. No personal information will be made public.

That said, Quebeckers and all Canadians understand that high quality data is critical to ensuring that government programs remain relevant and effective for all Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, the law is clear. Under subsection 5(2) of the Privacy Act, the government cannot ask for Canadians' personal and confidential information without their permission.

I want to repeat something the Prime Minister said yesterday in the House. He said he was fine with how Canadians' information is being collected without their consent. It is completely unacceptable.

What is he waiting for to change tack, do the right thing and put an end to this situation immediately?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, we are seeing that the Conservatives learned nothing from Canadians in the 2015 election. They scrapped the long-form census and we brought it back. That was the first thing we did when we took office. Quebeckers and Canadians across the country cheered because they know that pursuing policy based on data, facts and information gathered responsibly is the right way to go. They did not want to continue with the old way, Stephen Harper's way, of doing things.

Canada Revenue Agency

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Canada Revenue Agency continues to be the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons. It dawdles endlessly when it comes to the wealthy KPMG clients and other names cited in the Panama papers yet ruthlessly attacks Canadians who receive government benefits but do not have the means to defend themselves. The CRA has recouped more than $1 billion in five years from audits of 332,000 files yet it is incapable of processing the 3,000 files on Canadians implicated in the Panama papers a year ago.

Why are the Liberals condoning this double standard on tax justice?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to ensuring that Canadians receive the tax credits and benefits to which they are entitled. We have made significant progress in getting benefits to eligible Canadians. For example, the CRA now proactively communicates with low-income non-filers so that they can get the money they are owed. After 10 years of Conservative cuts, we will continue to invest in a new client-focused approach.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is the problem right there. They are not going to provide benefits; they are going to take them out of people's pockets.

This kind of reminds me of how the Liberals promised to stop subjecting charities to gratuitous audits. It was even included in the minister's mandate letter. Furthermore, this summer, Ontario's Superior Court told them to stop.

Are the Liberals going to stop? No, they are planning to appeal the decision.

Are they going to stop going after Canadians who receive benefits? No, because these Canadians are too easy a target.

Are they going to go after the wealthy individuals named in the Panama papers? They have not done it so far, so why would they start now?

I will repeat my question. Why maintain this two-tier tax system?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, our government is taking meaningful action to ensure that tax evaders and tax avoiders are forced to pay taxes. During our first years in offie, we invested nearly $1 billion to help the Canada Revenue Agency better target individuals who are trying to avoid their responsibilities. We are also in the process of making sure that benefits reach those who are entitled to them, even if they have low incomes and lack the means to apply. That is the definition of a fair system that looks after people.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have seen the egregious holes in our income tax system with the paradise papers, the Panama papers, the Isle of Man scam and offshore tax havens. Wealthy Canadians getting off the hook on paying taxes.

The Liberal government has done virtually nothing to crack down on offshore tax havens, but it has targeted regular Canadians. Under the Liberal government, well over $1 billion has been clawed back from Canadians, many of whom qualify for the disability tax credit or Canada child benefits.

Why are the Liberals denying benefits to families who deserve them?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our government remains committed to ensuring that Canadians receive the credits and benefits to which they are entitled, as we recognize that they are essential for middle-class families to make ends meet.

We have made significant progress in getting benefits to eligible Canadians. For example, the CRA now proactively communicates with low-income non-filers to encourage them to file so they can get the money they are owed.

After 10 years of cuts under the Harper Conservatives, we will continue to invest in a new client-focused approach.

By-Elections

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Liberals should be targeting tax havens, not targeting families.

The Prime Minister made a snide comment yesterday about the NDP when I asked him about the by-elections. It is not just the NDP calling for a vote. It is Canadians.

Today, party leaders from across the political spectrum called on the Prime Minister to show respect to voters. Three hundred thousand Canadians are being denied the right to representation by the Prime Minister.

Will he listen to parties representing 150 members of Parliament and call the vote now?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, to go back to the CRA, we have made historic investments to fight against tax cheats. We fully adopted the international standard for automatic information exchange with our partners in the OECD to give the CRA useful data to help fight tax cheats even more effectively. With respect to offshore tax evasion, the CRA is currently conducting audits on over more than 1,100 taxpayers and has opened over 50 criminal investigations.

As for the by-elections, we look forward to calling them soon. I look forward to campaigning against people who are so enthusiastic about the democratic process.

Privacy

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the government has no right to snoop through the personal financial information of Canadians, yet the Liberals are demanding that credit bureaus and banks secretly hand over comprehensive personal information, bank balances, mortgage payments, online purchases, credit card statements, they want it all. When will they stop this unauthorized surveillance on Canadians?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, we have been clear day in and day out, when it comes to privacy, when it comes to data protection, this is a priority for this government. With respect to Statistics Canada, it is subject to the Privacy Act, which means that it must ensure compliance with the privacy principles embedded in the act, including the protection of personal information. There is a rigorous and robust process in place. It also engages the Privacy Commissioner as well. Like I said before, we have been very clear. We will always make sure that data and privacy are respected.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, working with the Privacy Commissioner means heeding concerns about privacy for Canadians, not using his office for political cover. One expert has said that the law has never really contemplated anything on this scale. We are not talking about transactions with possible criminal links. These are regular Canadians going about their business and the Liberal government wants to know every detail of their financial lives.

It is 2018, not 1984. When will the Liberals hear the privacy concerns or are they going to continue their plans for an Orwellian intrusion into the lives of Canadians?