Debates of Feb. 5th, 2019

Opposition Motion—Single Tax Return in Quebec

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech.

The NDP supports the idea of simplifying Quebeckers' lives, and we adopted a resolution calling for a single tax return during our federal convention. However, we included one very important clause: the implementation of this idea must not result in a loss of employment for Quebec workers in regions such as Mauricie and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean.

How is the member going to take this work, much of it seasonal, away from workers without cutting any jobs? We have done our homework, we have done the analysis, and that looks like a pipe dream.

I would like the member to comment on that.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question, which I find rather strange. Not even a year ago, he was bragging about this at the NDP national convention in Quebec. I could show you newspaper articles to prove it. Members of the NDP were getting all worked up saying that they wanted a single tax return without any job losses. That is what we want too. Then, someone somewhere tried to scare people and all of a sudden the members of the NDP changed their tune and decided to side with the government.

I repeat: no jobs will be lost. That is the last thing we want. When we toured Quebec, individuals and business people across the province told us that it is ridiculous that they have to fill out two forms. I personally participated in that tour. I travelled over 10,000 kilometres and I visited those two regions. Why would Quebec not be able to make this system work when it works for the rest of Canada?

Quebeckers are proud, and we are saying that we are going to keep our promises. We will not change our tune because someone tells us that jobs will be lost. The government is the employer. The government will be a Conservative government, with our leader leading the troops.

Our leader has been clear. The day after the October 21 election, we are going to begin working with the Government of Quebec, as per the National Assembly's unanimous request, to ensure that Quebeckers only have to file a single tax return and that no jobs are lost in those two centres.

[Ramez Ayoub, Liberal, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is always interesting to hear the member opposite repeat himself over and over again, yet he never has any answers. We are asking him once again what his plan is to preserve these jobs, to strike a balance while also saving money, as the Conservatives have promised. As with the environment, there is no plan. He mentioned waste water. Once again, what is their plan, apart from saying they are going to resolve the issue, that they are travelling around Quebec and they are going to solve the problems?

What the member is doing is preaching, and interestingly, this is an election year. In an election year, the Conservatives are offering something to Quebec and refusing the rest of Canada the same thing. I look forward to seeing what happens in the rest of Canada.

What is happening? Does the member opposite, my colleague, have an answer? Will he share his plan with us? We are still waiting for the Conservatives' plans. I look forward to a plan.

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

Mr. Speaker, forgive me for smiling. I should stay serious because this is a serious issue. Every time I hear members on the other side of the House talking to us about plans, I laugh. The Liberals spent the election campaign telling us about plans and promises and they did not even keep them; but they are in charge, they are in power.

I want to go over some history. The word “history” makes it seem as though it is far away. I could talk about the Liberal sponsorship scandal, but I will not go that far back. In the current mandate, the Prime Minister and his ministers repeated about 1,000 times in the House—not to mention all the times they kept saying it during the campaign—that the 2015 election would be the last one under the current electoral system. What happened? That is a broken promise.

The Prime Minister repeated over and over again throughout the campaign—just as every other Liberal MP parroted it on the campaign trail—that he would balance the budget in 2019, after running small deficits in the first two years to invest in infrastructure. Where are we at? All the facts are there: we will not return to balanced budgets in 2019. Our children will have to pay.

The Liberal member wants to lecture the opposition even as we point out the Prime Minister’s shortcomings, mistakes and failures and suggest that Canadians will have to pay for his incompetence. We will offer Canadians a serious option. We will clean up this House on October 22, the day after the election.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank our hon. colleague for bringing forth this motion. It is laughable to hear the message from those across the way. Much as the seven members of Parliament from Newfoundland stayed silent on other issues, the 14 members from Quebec have stayed silent about the millions of litres of raw sewage that has been dumped into our rivers, lakes and streams. They have been silent in terms of the single tax form for Quebec.

Our hon. colleague has brought forth an incredible motion. Not only does our leader stand up and say what he is going to do in Quebec, but he says the very same things consistently all across our nation. He said the same in B.C. He said the same things right across our nation. That is unlike the member for Papineau, who is now our Prime Minister, who said a lot of things in 2015 to get elected, but seemingly forgot them.

Could our hon. colleague talk about the deafening silence from the 14 members of Parliament from Quebec?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague. I am glad he brought up the fact that our adversaries are trying to scare everyone and make people believe a number of unfortunate things. The fact is, we do not change our tune.

If there is one thing the Conservatives are known for, it is doing what they say they will do. The Liberals say things but do not follow through. Sometimes they even do other things entirely. Because of their incompetence and their failures, people will end up paying more. Those are documented facts. People are paying more now and have to deal with more red tape under this government.

The Liberal government has had three and a half years to implement its agenda, but it has not done so. Our party will keep its promises from coast to coast, from east to west and west to east. On October 21, we will follow through and make sure that all Canadians, including Quebeckers, need fill out only one tax return. It is in their best interest. We will do what people expect of us.

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservatives are playing politics by making empty promises that they have no intention of fulfilling.

My colleague from Mégantic—L'Érable—who, I should point out, was mayor of a single-industry town in a region of Quebec that was hit hard by a difficult employment situation—has been accusing me these past few days of fearmongering regarding the single tax return.

What we are saying is that we are always prepared to work with the Government of Quebec to make life easier for Quebeckers, but we will not blindly do so at any cost.

The Conservatives would rather use fear, instead of science and thoughtful action. As I told my colleague yesterday, I need only remind the House of when the Harper Conservatives tried to bring in their EI reform. The reform forced workers to find jobs that paid 30% less, were far from home, and were in fields unrelated to the workers' skills.

I remember that their human resources minister misled Canadians, saying that her investigators did not have a quota to meet. However, Le Devoir got its hands on an internal document from her department, which stated that each investigator had been tasked to recover $485,000 a year from seasonal workers.

That creates a climate of fear.

When I see the Conservatives ready to dive head first into a matter as complex as Quebeckers' income tax returns and ready to do anything for a few votes, it takes me back to the era of the Harper Conservatives.

It will come as no surprise to realize that today's Conservative Party is prepared to leap into this single income tax proposal without doing any studies or collecting any facts. One would think that they learned their lesson given the results of the last election, and yet, away they go again as though they need Canadians and Quebeckers to tell them once more that they are not interested in their reforms. That is quite all right. There is another good opportunity coming along this fall.

Contrary to what the Conservatives would like people to believe, we are not fixated on one option. We are open to having discussions, but with the facts on the table. We are not going to dive head first into a lake without checking how deep it is.

If the Conservatives were serious about simplifying Quebeckers tax return, they would not have cut Canada Revenue Agency services. Over a 10-year period, they cut staff, stopped mailing income tax forms to Canadians' homes, closed service counters and cut call centre hours.

We are not the only ones saying so. I would like to quote a report by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada entitled “Undermining Tax Fairness”:

The single most destructive event occurred as a result of the 2012 budget when, in one fell swoop, $250 million and 1,200 jobs were cut from CRA's budget. All told, successive austerity initiatives resulted in almost $900 million in projected cuts and the scheduled elimination of almost 3,000 jobs.

I will take no lessons—and I mean none—from the Conservatives on improving services to Canadians. Today the Conservatives are trying to say that one measure alone will make it easier and more accessible for Quebeckers to file their tax returns, namely, instituting a single tax form in Quebec.

They are wrong. Currently, the federal government, nine provinces and the three territories have harmonized their definition of income. Quebec has different definitions, different rules and different exemptions. To have a single tax return in Quebec, either the federal government, the nine provinces and the three territories would have to harmonize their framework with that of Quebec, or Quebec would have to harmonize its framework with that of the rest of the country. Are the Conservatives going to have the same message in Montreal as they do in Edmonton? I doubt it.

What is the Conservatives' real plan other than to buy Quebeckers' votes? Spoiler alert: they have no plan, just like they have no plan for climate change.

The Canada Revenue Agency employs more than 5,500 people in Quebec and is a major economic driver in towns such as Shawinigan and Jonquière. Let me be clear: unlike the Conservatives, we are not going to jeopardize those jobs. Yesterday I was in Shawinigan along with my colleagues, the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility, to announce the construction of a new building that will house the 1,350 or more CRA employees in Mauricie.

We delivered a very clear message to the Agency’s employees and their families. I would also like to say that we reassured the employees we met yesterday, unlike what the Conservatives are doing. They are sowing fear. We are investing in Shawinigan because, unlike the Conservatives, we believe in the importance of maintaining and creating decent jobs in Quebec’s regions. My colleagues and I are working hard to improve the quality of life of Quebeckers, no matter where they live.

That is why we have reached out to our Quebec counterparts by making ourselves available to them. We have initiated bilateral discussions and confirmed our commitment to continue a constructive dialogue based on co-operation and respect. Most importantly, we have confirmed our commitment to action and results.

Since 2015, our government has increased major federal transfers to Quebec by $3.3 billion. Today, these funds amount to nearly $24 billion. As part of our commitment to protecting infrastructure, our government has pledged to lend $1.28 billion over 15 years to fund the Réseau Express Métropolitain, REM, a major rapid transit project that will provide the Greater Montreal region with a more efficient and environmentally friendly means of transportation. This loan is administered by the Bank of Canada.

We have reached an agreement to transfer responsibility for the ports of Gros-Cacouna, Rimouski, Matane and Gaspé to the Government of Quebec. We will provide $163 million to help with the operating and maintenance costs of these ports. This transfer will take effect on March 30, 2020, and it will certainly benefit us at home, in the Gaspé and the Magdalen Islands.

In December, we announced that our government would invest $230 million in SCALE AI to create nearly 16,000 jobs in this Montreal-based artificial intelligence innovation centre. This initiative is at the heart of the strategy of—

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I fail to see the relevance of the minister's comments on the motion under discussion today. The minister is rambling on about investments or some could say the Liberals' intent on buying votes in the Quebec area.

The discussion today is germane to the motion put forward by our hon. colleague. I would like to see if the minister could get back on topic.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We will leave it to the hon. minister to continue her speech. I am sure she will come around and make a point of it. I have heard different things said in the House that go in different directions, but the speaker often comes back to the topic. I am sure she will make a point soon and close in on where she is aiming.

The hon. minister.

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this initiative is a key component of the government's export diversification strategy, and it provides irrefutable proof of our support for Quebec's artificial intelligence sector.

As part of our efforts to improve infrastructure across Canada, we plan to invest upwards of $7.5 billion in major infrastructure projects in Quebec over the next decade. Furthermore, in 2018-19, Quebec should receive $504 million for municipal infrastructure.

By 2023, $293 million could be injected into strategic initiatives in Quebec under the Canada-Quebec bilateral agreement implementing the Canadian agricultural partnership. Sixty per cent of the funding will come from the Government of Canada, and 40 per cent will come from the Government of Quebec.

The Government of Canada will provide $2.5 billion by 2022 for home and community care under the Canada-Quebec asymmetrical agreement on health care funding.

We have also made a commitment to transfer more than $262 million to the Quebec government between 2017 and 2020 under the Canada-Quebec asymmetrical agreement on early learning and child care.

We are negotiating new agreements to improve the employment and housing situation in the province. We proposed an investment of over $5 billion for training and skills development in Quebec between 2017 and 2023, as well as an investment of nearly $2 billion over the next 10 years to help respond to housing needs.

When it comes to immigration, under the Canada-Quebec accord relating to immigration and temporary admission of aliens, the Government of Quebec received $490 million in 2017-18. Negotiations are under way to compensate Quebec for costs related to the temporary accommodation of asylum seekers in 2017 and 2018.

These are just a few examples of completed, in-progress or proposed funding and partnership programs that the Government of Canada established with the Government of Quebec. We will continue to work in close co-operation with the province to strengthen Quebec's economy and improve people's lives.

Efforts to restore and strengthen ties between the Canadian and Quebec governments have been very successful on several fronts.

Rather than making empty promises, we, on this side of the House, will continue to invest in services that make a real difference in the lives of Quebeckers.

We on this side of the House know that access to services is what really matters, regardless of where one is in the country.

It is with that objective in mind that Canada Revenue Agency and Revenu Québec have long been working together as part of a collaboration that dates back nearly 30 years. This long-standing collaboration allows the two agencies to share best practices and ensures that all recipients of benefits across Canada receive the best possible service.

Contrary to what the Conservatives would have us believe, collaboration with Revenu Québec is based on a solid foundation and has resulted in concrete improvements for Quebeckers.

Collaborative efforts between the two agencies resulted in new, secure self-service options that were introduced in October 2018 for GST registrants in Quebec.

To date, the new service has resulted in over 1.5 million transactions, which is a huge step forward for businesses. Such progress would not have been possible without that close collaboration.

I would also like to point out that Canada Revenue Agency is responsible for administering a fair and efficient tax system that serves all Canadians, including the residents of Quebec.

It is with that objective in mind that Canada Revenue Agency has implemented a number of new services designed to make it easier for all Canadians to file their tax returns.

Many of these new services are designed to improve access for Canadians who file their tax returns electronically. It is clear that Quebec residents are also benefiting from these improvements, as more than 85% of Quebec taxpayers file electronically. Many services such as auto-fill my return, file my return, express NOA and ReFILE have already been put in place to make it easier for Canadians to file their returns.

Other benefits for Quebec residents include updates to the tax preparation software to make it easier to complete both forms. The basic information that is the same for each form can be automatically generated using the new features. That is what co-operation with Quebec looks like.

The important thing is to ensure that Canadians receive the best possible services so that they can easily file their income tax returns and receive the benefits and tax credits they are entitled to. We will never renege on that commitment.

Where were the Conservatives for 10 years? They were certainly not in the Gaspé or the Magdalen Islands. For 10 years, they terrorized seasonal workers in my riding by treating them like criminals, when all they did was apply for employment insurance. For 10 years, they totally ignored our crucial fishing sector. For 10 years, they neglected rural infrastructure. For 10 years, they treated the people in my riding like second-class citizens. That is the Conservative legacy for people here and other regions of Quebec. There is no difference between the Harper Conservatives and today’s Conservatives.

It was their leader himself who said he was “Harper with a smile”, “Harper 2.0”. That is scary.

In the coming months, we will see two categories of Conservative promises: promises in Quebec and promises in the rest of Canada.

Divide and conquer is the same tactic that Canadians rejected in 2015, and it is the same tactic that they will reject again in October.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to be able to remind Canadians that it was our party that launched the debate a year and a half ago in Quebec on whether Quebeckers would like to continue using two tax returns or whether it would be better to have a single tax return like everyone else in Canada. We initiated the debate and our—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order. There seems to be a technical problem with interpretation.

I am told it is working again. The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent may continue with his remarks.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to speak to the issue.

I am pleased to remind parliamentarians and all Canadians that it was our party that began the debate in Canada a year and a half ago with our “Listening to Quebeckers” tour. It was our party, gathered for a provincial convention with nearly 500 people, that decided to propose the idea of having a single tax return. After that the four parties at the National Assembly voted in favour of our proposal. Then there were the 3,000 party supporters from coast to coast, from British Columbia to Newfoundland, the vast majority of whom, or 90%, voted in favour of this proposal. Contrary to what some are saying, people in Vancouver, Quebec City, or St. John's, Newfoundland, are saying the same thing in English and French.

Earlier, the minister spoke about the good relations between Quebec and Ottawa and between Ottawa and the premier. I am not sure that the Minister of Revenue heard what her boss said earlier. He was, once again, fearmongering, saying that jobs would be lost. Our leader, the future prime minister of Canada, was very clear, just 10 days ago in Montreal. No public servants will be laid off. Anyone who claims the opposite is flat out lying.

Why does the minister think that everything is going well with Quebec, when this morning, her leader, her Prime Minister, and, unfortunately ours for the remaining months, once again sowed the seeds of fear in Quebeckers and directly attacked the duly elected Premier of Quebec?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government, nine provinces and the three territories have harmonized their definitions of income.

As I said in my speech, Quebec has a different definition, different rules and different exemptions. For Quebec to have a single tax return, the nine other provinces and the three territories would have to amend their framework or else Quebec would have to amend its own.

Which option do the Conservatives prefer?

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for her remarks. Not all ministers participate in debates on opposition motions.

Nevertheless, my question is about the Minister of National Revenue's, the government's and the Prime Minister's lack of openness to this idea. The NDP has been on board since this debate began, which was long before the Conservatives moved their motion—regardless of what the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent may think. We adopted a motion about this at our federal convention on February 17, 2018, which was well before the Conservatives began to take an interest.

We have been open to this idea, but the Minister of National Revenue and her government have not. They have never wanted to consider the possibility or talk to the Government of Quebec about it. They have no interest in discussing it, just as they had no interest in constitutional talks when the Government of Quebec broached the topic a few years back. The Liberals just slammed the door in Quebeckers' faces then, and they are doing the same now with respect to a single tax return for Quebec.

Why is the minister so condescending when it is time to talk to Quebec? Why does she believe that Ottawa is always right and that she always has to have the last word? Why was she not more open to having a discussion on this issue rather than slamming the door shut when Quebec first floated the idea?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there was no condescension on my part. As a Quebecker, I will also not be condescending towards myself.

If my colleague has listened carefully to what I said, he knows that we have worked with Revenu Québec for 30 years. We held two joint consultations with Quebec small businesses, one in 2016 and another in 2018. We exchange information in order to improve services for Quebeckers and Canadians.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I would like to remind members that they need to be in their seats in order to speak. Otherwise I cannot recognize them, and I would not want them to rise for nothing.

The hon. member for Edmonton West.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Minister of National Revenue for an excellently read speech. I am sure this morning is the first time she has seen it.

She went on and on, as she has in previous times in the House, misleading Canadians by stating that the Conservatives cut positions to the CRA. I have a document here from the Library of Parliament that shows that from when the Liberals took over from the Conservatives, they cut 800 jobs, and the minister's own departmental plans—which I am sure she had not even read, although she signed off on them—show further cuts next year of 700 jobs.

I wonder why the minister continues to stand in the House and mislead Canadians on the facts.

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I wonder why the member opposite feels the need to engage in personal attacks and assume that the minister has or has not read certain documents. That is disgraceful and unbecoming of a member of Parliament.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am afraid that is not a point of order. That is more debate.

The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.

I am sure that if you seek it you will find the unanimous consent of the House to table the document my colleague mentioned.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Is there unanimous consent?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like remind the member opposite of something. We were talking about tax evasion earlier. Suddenly the Conservative Party wants to champion fighting tax evasion, although their former national revenue minister, Mr. Blackburn, publicly stated that it was not even a priority for the Conservatives. In our current mandate, we hired 1,300 new auditors to work on combatting tax evasion, and un like the Conservatives, we have invested nearly $1 billion.

I will take no lessons from them regarding services. They cut volunteer services, which help the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society, people who cannot afford to hire accountants. When it comes to services, I will take no lessons from them.

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in his speech, the member for Richmond—Arthabaska bemoaned the elimination of the public transit tax credit. However, that tax credit attracted widespread criticism, including from Équiterre, because it was not fulfilling its objective. It cost $1,000 to reduce one tonne of greenhouse gas, whereas a carbon credit costs $15 on the carbon market.

Why would we trust a party that pays $1,000 for something that costs $15 on the free market? Why would we download version 2.0?