Debates of March 26th, 2018

Firearms

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, as Conservatives, we will always support sound policy that ensures the safe storage and handling of firearms, screens licensed owners of firearms, classifies firearms based on function, and targets the criminals who commit gun crimes. Unfortunately, the Liberals' new backdoor gun registry in Bill C-71 fails to stop the criminals who use guns to commit violent crimes. Again, the Liberals are treating law-abiding firearms owners as criminals. Their legislation has no new measures to combat gang violence in our cities, gun violence on our streets, or crime in our rural communities.

The Liberals are re-establishing a federal registrar to keep records on law-abiding firearms owners. Registrars keep registries. What the Prime Minister fails to understand is that gangs, thugs, and gun runners do not register their firearms.

I fought against the original long-gun registry for almost two decades, and I will continue to oppose the Liberals' new ill-advised and unnecessary backdoor gun registry.

Laurentides—Labelle Newsletter

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to announce that the most recent edition of my newsletter was sent to over 69,000 households in Laurentides—Labelle last week. When the House announced that we would soon be able to have our householders printed in colour, I immediately signed up for the pilot project. The newsletter is a way to initiate conversations with constituents, acknowledge the contributions of those who make a difference in the riding, and build a better partnership between my region and the federal government.

I humbly acknowledge the work of my team and the Hill's Printing and Mailing Services. I would particularly like to recognize Samuel St-Amand, Kim Lanctot, and Sara Drouin. Thanks to them, my riding is once again leading the way. The people of Laurentides—Labelle are the first in Canada to receive an improved householder printed in colour. I have already received very positive feedback about this.

World Tuberculosis Day

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to mark the occasion of March 24, which is recognized as World Tuberculosis Day.

TB is a treatable and curable disease. However, it continues to claim the lives of more than 1.7 million people worldwide. Indicators show that it is nearly 300 times higher for Inuit than for non-indigenous Canadians.

I am pleased to recognize our government's commitment to eliminating TB across Inuit Nunangat regions, as announced by the Minister of Indigenous Services last week, ensuring that these communities have the resources to combat this disease.

For too long, people in the north and Inuit people have needlessly suffered from a curable and treatable illness. Today, I also wish to recognize my constituents across Labrador, and the many families who continue to deal with this significant problem.

I encourage people to be tested, to follow treatments, and to work together to combat and eradicate this disease.

Purple Day

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as members know, today, March 26, marks Purple Day. Started in 2008 by Cassidy Megan of Halifax, it has grown into an international event.

On this day, people around the world are wearing purple to increase awareness of epilepsy, a chronic neurological disorder that affects over 50 million people worldwide.

My riding of Oshawa is well served by Epilepsy Durham Region, which serves all eight municipalities with a staff of only two and a dedicated team of volunteers. This incredible organization promotes independence and quality of life for families and those affected with epilepsy. With no local specialized medical care, Epilepsy Durham Region provides education, peer-to-peer support, and employment support to people living with epilepsy.

A proud member of the Canadian Epilepsy Alliance, CEO Dianne McKenzie and her organization deliver all their services to Durham region without access to government funding. I applaud the outstanding work of Epilepsy Durham Region. On behalf of my colleagues in this House, I want to thank Dianne, Chelsea and their team.

Happy Purple Day, everyone.

Greek Independence Day

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this past Sunday, March 25, Greeks and philhellenes across the country and around the world participated in marches to celebrate Greek Independence Day.

On March 25, 1821, the Greek War of Independence began with the insurrection of such revolutionaries as the heroic Theodoros Kolokotronis, Laskarina Bouboulina, and Rigas Feraios, who said, “It's finer to live one hour as a free man than forty years as a slave and prisoner”.

The Greek Canadian community has contributed greatly to Canadian society, making Canada more prosperous, culturally diverse, and inclusive.

On behalf of the Government of Canada and of Saint-Laurent, please accept my very best wishes for this important national celebration.

[Member spoke in Greek]

Pensions

[Scott Duvall, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government needs to understand that pensions are deferred wages. Denying workers the pension money they have earned is theft, plain and simple.

Thousands of Canadian workers who have lost hard-earned benefits and pensions due to Canada's inadequate bankruptcy and insolvency laws know this all too well. Why does it happen? It is because the law allows it to happen.

No one can blame workers for being skeptical of the government's commitment to addressing retirement security and their weak-kneed promise to obtain feedback through further conversation. How much more evidence-based feedback does the government need than the thousands of Canadian workers who have lost health care benefits and value from their pensions?

The government must get serious about changing Canada's inadequate bankruptcy and insolvency laws, and make the changes presented in my private members bill, Bill C-384. Those changes would go a long way to helping protect the well-being and retirement security of Canadian workers. As I have travelled across the country in recent months, Canadian workers have made it clear that they want action, not more conversation. End the pension theft.

National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I voted for 21 hours because I am sick of hypocrisy.

I voted for 21 hours because I believe in freedom of speech.

I voted for 21 hours because Canada deserves better.

I voted for 21 hours because I am proud to stand up.

I voted for 21 hours because Parliament belongs to the people.

I voted for 21 hours because the House of Commons is the place where Canadians' representatives speak out.

I voted for 21 hours because the Liberal government needs to be accountable to parliamentarians.

I voted for 21 hours because the Prime Minister's Office does not have all the rights.

I voted for 21 hours because the government does not work for the Prime Minister.

I voted for 21 hours so the national security adviser would be free to speak to Canadians.

I voted for 21 hours so that the truth would triumph over the Liberals' skulduggery.

I voted with my colleagues for 21 hours because the official opposition and its leader are an amazing team and there are only 13,762 hours left to turn this Liberal government into a Conservative government.

Purple Day

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, today is Purple Day, a day dedicated to increasing awareness about epilepsy.

Each year over 15,000 Canadians are diagnosed with epilepsy, but due to the stigma surrounding it many people are reluctant to seek care. That is one of the reasons why a good friend of ours, Nova Scotia's Cassidy Megan, created Purple Day, to help people with epilepsy know that they are not alone and to help others understand more about the disorder.

Now, due to Cassidy's hard work, over 100 countries celebrate Purple Day and everyone can show their support by wearing purple every March 26.

I would like to finish by reading this quote from Cassidy Megan:

Epilepsy is a part of you but it doesn’t define you. Everybody has a voice, continue to use yours to speak out and spread awareness for epilepsy. Don’t fear it, own it and tell your story. Together we are erasing the stigma of epilepsy.

Public Safety

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

Mr. Speaker, last week the Liberals spent over 20 hours voting to protect the Prime Minister by preventing his national security adviser from providing information to parliamentarians. The Prime Minister is hiding something. Let us not be mistaken. The PMO set up and facilitated the briefing whereby the India conspiracy theory was floated out.

My question to the Prime Minister is this. Did he know that Daniel Jean was going to be briefing the media about the Atwal affair?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the official opposition has been offered a classified briefing from the non-partisan professional public service, but for reasons known only to him, he refuses to accept that briefing.

I ask the opposition leader that he accept that classified briefing from officials, and then we can talk.

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

Mr. Speaker, I asked the Prime Minister a question, and we would like an answer. Daniel Jean did not decide of his own volition to go out and talk to the media. He was instructed by the Prime Minister's Office to go out and float a theory that somehow India was involved in the Atwal affair.

Therefore, I ask the Prime Minister, was he aware that Daniel Jean, his national security adviser, was going to be giving a briefing to the media about the Atwal affair, yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, all Canadians understand that when it comes to security and intelligence issues there is, from time to time, a need to keep classified information classified. However, the leader of the official opposition is a member of the Privy Council and as such could receive classified briefings. We have offered, repeatedly, for the leader of the official opposition to receive a classified briefing. Instead, the official opposition prefers to play petty politics rather than know the truth.

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

Mr. Speaker, we are asking for the same briefing that the media received. If the Prime Minister is somehow suggesting that the media are members of the Privy Council, I suggest he check his notes once again.

I will go back to my original question and ask for an answer. Was the Prime Minister aware on February 22 that his security adviser was going to go out to the press gallery and tell them that India was involved in setting up Jaspal Atwal to be at his event, yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I think Canadians are puzzled to know that the leader of the official opposition was offered—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. We need to hear the questions and the answers. I know members will want to hear both.

The right hon. Prime Minister has the floor.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I think Canadians are wondering why the official opposition leader was offered a classified briefing on classified information, and instead of learning the truth, instead of being willing to learn about what actually happened and what good work the security officials and intelligence officials are doing, he chose to play partisan politics instead. That is what Canadians are wondering.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question today for the Prime Minister is very simple. I hope he will answer it clearly and honestly for the benefit of all the Canadians tuning in this afternoon.

Was the Prime Minister aware that his national security adviser, Daniel Jean, was going to give a media briefing during his recent trip to India? Yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition was given the opportunity to attend a classified briefing session with a non-partisan professional public servant, but for reasons known only to him, he is refusing to find out the truth. The opposition leader should accept the classified briefing, and then we can talk.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will repeat my question, which is very straightforward and has nothing to do with the Prime Minister's last four answers.

Was the Prime Minister aware that his national security adviser, Daniel Jean, was going to give a media briefing during his recent trip to India, yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians understand perfectly well that, when it comes to security and intelligence issues, there is sometimes a need to keep classified information classified. We offered the opposition leader an opportunity to receive a classified briefing, but he refused. Opposition members even spent 21 hours voting because they wanted to talk about this instead of firearms. We know why: opposition members want to weaken our gun laws.

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, this government brags about combatting tax evasion, but the reality is just the opposite. The figures from the Canada Revenue Agency speak for themselves.

In 2010-11, the criminal investigations program opened 167 tax evasion cases. In 2016-17, just 75 cases were opened. This is half as many cases leading to criminal charges, even with the release of the Panama papers and the paradise papers.

While the big fish continue to make it out relatively unscathed, the small fish are the ones being targeted.

When will the Prime Minister fix his net and go after the real fraudsters?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have invested nearly $1 billion in the fight against tax evasion and tax avoidance.

More than 1,000 audits are under way abroad, along with 40 criminal investigations connected to foreign transactions. So far, we have imposed $44 million in sanctions on those who promote tax avoidance schemes, and we have announced more than $90 million over five years to manage the other cases that were reported through our country's and other countries' improved risk assessment systems.

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

Mr. Speaker, the numbers confirm that the small fish are getting caught while the big ones are getting away.

It is tax season right now, and while most Canadians will pay their taxes, others are going to try to come up with ways to engage in tax evasion or aggressive tax avoidance.

Does the government believe that the Canada Revenue Agency has the means to deal with the situation? Contrary to what the Prime Minister claims, the government has not invested a trillion dollars in the program to combat tax evasion and tax avoidance. It has invested $15 million. Those numbers come from the CRA.

The government leaves the KPMGs of the world alone, but goes after servers' tip money, and that is unacceptable.

Will the government commit to spending the money it promised?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, in budgets 2016 and 2017, we allocated nearly $1 billion to combat tax evasion and tax avoidance. We take this very seriously and we will continue to ensure that everyone pays their fair share of taxes. We have done a great deal to improve our tax system to ensure that everyone pays their fair share of taxes. That is a priority for Canadians and it is a priority for this government.