House of Commons Hansard #255 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was workers.

Topics

National AnthemStatements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Some hon. members

In all of us command.

National AnthemStatements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Order, please. As much as we all appreciate patriotism, I want to remind members that we are not here to sing or chant, except on Wednesdays of course when we sing the national anthem. It should be one person at a time. I know members understand that.

The EnvironmentStatements By Members

2:10 p.m.

NDP

Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Salaberry—Suroît, QC

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the future of our planet. The people of Salaberry—Suroît came together on January 16 to discuss this issue and find ways to make a true green shift happen. We welcomed three renowned experts: Normand Mousseau, a professor of physics at the Université de Montréal; Lorraine Caron, head of Transitio; and Geneviève Aude Puskas, a science communicator for Équiterre.

They reminded us that the Canadian government pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030. However, the government's plan is not based on any scientific data. We need to make a green shift, with a more robust public transit system, greener building standards, and a concerted plan involving all federal departments.

Measures like these would have economic, social, and environmental benefits. It is time for us to follow through on our ambitions and commitments, for the sake of our future and our children's future.

Black History MonthStatements By Members

2:15 p.m.

Conservative

Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB

Mr. Speaker, today begins Black History Month, where we celebrate in a particular way the historic and present contributions of black Canadians. Canada has been richly blessed by these contributions.

Many of the first black Canadians came here to escape slavery. Upper Canada was the first jurisdiction in the British Empire to free slaves and legislate against slavery in 1793. In addition to our relatively early opposition to slavery, Canadians can take pride in the pivotal role we played in the fight against apartheid.

However, our relative success is not enough. Ongoing instances of racism continue to impact the lives of black Canadians. Conservatives are eager to work with colleagues in other parties and civil society to fight racism.

I would like to highlight the contributions of a few black Canadians in particular.

Lincoln Alexander was the first black member of Parliament, then cabinet minister. He was also a Conservative.

William Hall was the first black Canadian sailor, as well as the first black Canadian to receive the Victoria Cross.

Mary Ann Shadd was a well-known anti-slavery activist, and the first woman publisher in North America.

We applaud the past and continuing vital contributions of Canada's black community.

Black History MonthStatements By Members

2:15 p.m.

Liberal

Emmanuel Dubourg Liberal Bourassa, QC

Mr. Speaker, 23 years ago, the House of Commons recognized February as Black History Month. Let us celebrate our differences that make Canada a strong, diverse, inclusive, and proud country.

The theme for 2018 is “Black Canadian Women: Stories of Strength, Courage and Vision”.

Today, I have the privilege of paying tribute to one of these women. Her name does not appear in the history books. Widowed at 40, she bore the responsibility of raising her eight children. She made enormous sacrifices for their education. She left school to work as a seamstress, so she could put food on the table. She died in Montreal in 2003 and was buried in Saint-Marc. She showed strength, courage, vision, and much love.

Thank you to Ms. Elvire Adé Dubourg, my beloved mother.

EthicsOral Questions

2:15 p.m.

Conservative

Alain Rayes Conservative Richmond—Arthabaska, QC

Mr. Speaker, a year ago, the Prime Minister tried to cover up details of his vacation on a billionaire's private island.

Thanks to our leader, who demanded an investigation into the Prime Minister's illegal vacation, we all know that the Prime Minister contravened four sections of our conflict of interest and ethics legislation.

Now the Prime Minister has to accept the consequences and prove to Canadians that he is following the same rules as every other member of the House.

When will he pay back the $215,000 he took?

EthicsOral Questions

2:15 p.m.

Waterloo Ontario

Liberal

Bardish Chagger LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism

Mr. Speaker, immediately after the commissioner's report was released, the Prime Minister took responsibility, accepted the commissioner's findings, and committed to clearing all future personal and family vacation plans with the commissioner.

For weeks and months, for a whole year even, the opposition demanded the report, and now that the report has been tabled, the opposition is refusing to accept the findings. We, in contrast, are grateful to the commissioner, we accept her findings, and we will follow all her recommendations.

EthicsOral Questions

2:15 p.m.

Conservative

Alain Rayes Conservative Richmond—Arthabaska, QC

Mr. Speaker, all week now, we have been trying to get an answer from the Prime Minister, but he refuses to answer any questions himself. Meanwhile, the government House leader keeps reading from the same cue cards prepared by the Liberal spin doctors. It sounds like a broken record.

Can the House leader put down her cue cards and simply tell Canadians whether the Prime Minister intends to pay back the $215,000 he picked from their pockets?

EthicsOral Questions

2:20 p.m.

Waterloo Ontario

Liberal

Bardish Chagger LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism

Mr. Speaker, as I have said several times, the previous commissioner, both in her report and in her testimony at committee, answered many questions related to her report. We accept her findings and we respect her work.

Every day, the opposition members read the same question, and yet they tell me I should not read the same answer. Funny, is it not?

EthicsOral Questions

2:20 p.m.

Conservative

Alain Rayes Conservative Richmond—Arthabaska, QC

Mr. Speaker, what we are seeing is indeed quite funny. Based on what the House leader is saying, we are supposed to believe that the Prime Minister is above the law. The Prime Minister thinks that Canadians have one law for all other members of the House and another law that applies only to him.

I would like to know why ministers who are caught red-handed have to pay back what they took, when the Prime Minister refuses to pay back the $215,000 he picked from the pockets of taxpayers—

EthicsOral Questions

2:20 p.m.

Liberal

EthicsOral Questions

2:20 p.m.

Waterloo Ontario

Liberal

Bardish Chagger LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism

Mr. Speaker, what I said is that, on this side of the House, we respect the work of all the other officers of Parliament. Unlike the opposition, when officers of Parliament make recommendations, we take them seriously, and we work with those officers to make sure that we are following their recommendations. What is more, the Prime Minister committed to having all future personal and family vacations cleared ahead of time.

EthicsOral Questions

2:20 p.m.

Conservative

Candice Bergen Conservative Portage—Lisgar, MB

Mr. Speaker, we have seen other Liberals, like the indigenous services minister, the member for Malpeque, and the member for Humber River—Black Creek, pay back taxpayers for inappropriate expenses that they claimed. That was the right thing to do.

However, the Prime Minister thinks he does not have to pay back over $200,000 in illegal expenses that he charged. He thinks he is above the law and above the rules.

Why does the Prime Minister think there is one set of rules for him, and another set of rules for everyone else?

EthicsOral Questions

2:20 p.m.

Waterloo Ontario

Liberal

Bardish Chagger LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism

Mr. Speaker, on numerous occasions the Prime Minister and myself, and many others, have reiterated that immediately following the report being submitted we accepted the recommendations. The Prime Minister took responsibility. What is clear is that the Conservatives continue to focus on the Prime Minister. They continue to focus on us, while we will continue to focus on Canadians.

Last night, once again, the Prime Minister was at a public town hall. He was hearing directly from Canadians. They were talking about the very real challenges they are facing, including immigration delays. While the Conservatives thought 24 months was adequate, we have reduced that to 12 months. We will continue getting—

EthicsOral Questions

2:20 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

The hon. opposition House leader.

EthicsOral Questions

February 1st, 2018 / 2:20 p.m.

Conservative

Candice Bergen Conservative Portage—Lisgar, MB

Mr. Speaker, we are focused on the Prime Minister, because he is the only prime minister in the history of Canada to break the Conflict of Interest Act.

Recently, the Prime Minister said that he believes the standard applied to others on the issue of sexual harassment applies to everyone, including himself. That, indeed, is true.

Why is it that when it comes to paying back taxpayers' dollars, that the Prime Minister clearly should not have used and that is owed back, he thinks he does not have to pay.

Why does the Prime Minister think the standard that is applied to everyone else in this place, when it comes to paying for illegal or improper expenses, does not apply to him?

EthicsOral Questions

2:20 p.m.

Waterloo Ontario

Liberal

Bardish Chagger LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, as has been the case for past prime ministers and as is the case for this Prime Minister, whenever and wherever the Prime Minister travels, there are costs related to security.

Once the commissioner had submitted the report, the Prime Minister took responsibility. He accepted the recommendations. It is interesting, because the opposition, for weeks, months, a year even, was asking for that report to be submitted. Now that it is submitted, it is refusing to accept its findings.

We respect the work of the commissioner. We respect the work of officers of Parliament, and we thank them for their work. We will accept their recommendations.

Canada Revenue AgencyOral Questions

2:20 p.m.

NDP

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

Mr. Speaker, the Panama papers scandal broke in 2016, and to date, revenue agencies around the world have managed to recover over a half a billion dollars from the identified tax cheats. Spain alone managed to recover $122 million.

The Canada Revenue Agency is telling us that it will not have anything to report on this until 2020. The CRA brings out the big guns to deal with small taxpayers but treats big-time fraudsters with kid gloves.

The Liberals have a clear choice. Will they require the CRA to be accountable to Canadians or will they continue to protect the agency's incompetent leaders?

Canada Revenue AgencyOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine Québec

Liberal

Diane Lebouthillier LiberalMinister of National Revenue

Mr. Speaker, combatting tax evasion is a priority for our government. We have a full-time team dedicated to investigating the wealthiest members of society, while another team is dedicated to offshore compliance.

As of December 31, 2017, 150 taxpayers connected to the Panama papers had been identified for audit. I chose to tighten the rules for the voluntary disclosures program so that any taxpayers identified through information leaks, such as the Panama papers, do not have access to that program.

These individuals must face the full consequences of their actions.

Canada Revenue AgencyOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

NDP

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

Mr. Speaker, that does not explain why Spain is getting results and we are not.

It is clear to me that the minister, right now, is protecting incompetence. The Canada Revenue Agency moves at a snail's pace against fraudsters using offshore tax havens. While the U.S. heavily fines KPMG for facilitating tax evasion, the CRA gives KPMG a slap on the wrist for the same offence.

Half the calls the agency receives go unanswered, and 30% of the information given to the other half is actually wrong. Why is the government rewarding incompetence by giving CRA executives $35,000 bonuses?

Canada Revenue AgencyOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine Québec

Liberal

Diane Lebouthillier LiberalMinister of National Revenue

Mr. Speaker, our government is firmly committed to combatting tax evasion and tax avoidance. That is why in our last two budgets we invested nearly $1 billion in doing just that.

The Canada Revenue Agency is now able to assess the risk of all large multinational corporations each year. This year it is reviewing every transaction over $10,000 in four regions that are deemed high-risk. The first two are the Isle of Man and Guernsey. As far as offshore compliance is concerned, on December 31, 2017, the Agency audited 1,090 taxpayers and launched criminal investigations—

Canada Revenue AgencyOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

The hon. member for Berthier—Maskinongé.

InfrastructureOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

NDP

Ruth Ellen Brosseau NDP Berthier—Maskinongé, QC

Mr. Speaker, while creating the Canada Infrastructure Bank, the Liberals courted the most powerful investors on the planet, all behind closed doors. Companies like BlackRock only want one thing, more money in its pockets. Guess what, the Minister of Finance promised it that. An economist at the University of Ottawa, Randall Bartlett, called the scheme a subsidy by another name.

Why do the Liberals keep helping their Bay Street friends, and doing absolutely nothing to help everyday Canadians get by?

InfrastructureOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount Québec

Liberal

Marc Garneau LiberalMinister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, we are moving forward with our historic $180 billion infrastructure plan, which includes the establishment of the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

We are proud to have announced that Bruno Guilmette has been appointed as chief investment officer, and that Janice Fukakusa has been appointed as chair of a highly qualified and diverse board of directors that will lead this important organization.

Now operational, the bank is helping to build more infrastructure across Canada, and create the strong, sustainable, and inclusive communities Canadians want to live in.

InfrastructureOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

NDP

Ruth Ellen Brosseau NDP Berthier—Maskinongé, QC

Mr. Speaker, two years after announcing the infrastructure bank, the Liberals still do not want to give us the whole story.

What we do know is that the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance have held several closed door meetings to court investment giants like BlackRock.

We also know that those companies want to invest in Canada because the bank poses less risk and allows them to make maximum profits from user fees.

Will the Minister of Finance finally have the courage to tell Canadians the truth about who will truly benefit from the infrastructure bank?