Debates of June 6th, 2019

Government Priorities

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

Mr. Speaker, I will tell members what the Prime Minister has no idea of and does not know anything about. That is the struggles that everyday middle-class Canadians are going through. He is more focused on self-promotion and increasing his so-called feminism than on the needs of hard-working families. He does absolutely nothing, while small business owners are dealing with the price of his carbon tax.

Canadian families are falling further and further behind under the weight of the Prime Minister's failed economic policies, and they are asking for tax breaks. Does he know what? Conservatives are going to give Canadians those tax breaks.

Why are the Liberals ignoring Canadians?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion]

Mr. Speaker, we are a government that cares about small businesses and that cares about creating jobs in this country. That is why we have lowered the small business tax rate to 9%, making it one of the lowest. We are helping hard-working Canadians create those jobs in small businesses. We are helping small businesses be more competitive.

We have cut more regulations in the three and a half years we have been in government than you did, or that the Conservatives did, in the last 10 years. We are working hard for Canadians.

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

I remind the hon. minister to direct her comments to the Chair. I do not think she meant the Chair did something or other.

The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.

Small Business

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

Mr. Speaker, small business owners in Canada clearly remember two years ago when the Minister of Finance mounted an all-out assault against them. The Prime Minister sees small business owners as people who try to get out of paying their share of taxes. That may be the Prime Minister's approach, but that is not the approach of Canadian workers and it is certainly not the approach of small business owners.

Will the government finally realize that small businesses are the backbone of our economy? We have to help them, not hinder them like the government has been for four years.

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I want to remind my colleague that we completely agree with him. Small businesses are the backbone of the Canadian economy. They are fundamental to Canada's economy. We have supported our entrepreneurs and SMEs from the start. We lowered the small business tax to 9%. It is one of the lowest tax rates among OECD countries.

I also want to remind my colleague that nothing helps SMEs more than a booming economy, a thriving economy. That is what Conservatives have always failed to offer Canada, with the lowest growth rate since the Second World War. The Conservatives' results speak for themselves: one million—

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my colleague from Louis-Hébert that his leader, the Prime Minister, has said that he thinks small businesses are a way to avoid taxes. Perhaps that is what the Prime Minister and other people, like the Minister of Finance, believe, but it is not what real Canadian workers and entrepreneurs believe. Entrepreneurs mortgage their homes in order to create jobs and wealth. We, the Conservatives, stand up for Canadian workers and entrepreneurs.

Does the government understand that by directly attacking wealth creators, it is attacking the Canadian economy?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we lowered the small business tax rate to 9%, the lowest rate in the G7. We also lowered taxes on the middle class. That was the first thing we did. The member for Louis-Saint-Laurent voted against that. We gave more money to families with the Canada child benefit. This money goes into the economy and builds confidence in the future. The money can be used to buy back-to-school supplies, for example. On average, a typical family of four is $2,000 better off. My colleague voted against that. In his riding, $79 million goes out to 22,000 children every year. He voted against that.

Taxation

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, middle-class families that are paying $800 more in income tax since the current government took office are asking what is next. The government is running out of other people's money and tries to take more. It tried to take away the disability tax credit from diabetics. It considered taxing health and dental benefits for middle-class families. It tried to raise tax on investment income for small businesses to 71%. Will the government tell us today that although it tried to bring in those tax increases, it will never reintroduce them again?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I find it somewhat troubling that the member for Carleton still refers to a Fraser Institute study that has been debunked by just about anyone who can read and count and has taken five minutes to look at it. He can do better than that.

Last week, in committee, the member for Carleton said that we should judge policies based on results, not on intentions. The result over the last four years is that the average Canadian family pays $2,000 less in taxes than it did under the previous government. That is a fact.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government that missed its deficit promises by $20 billion wants to extol its virtues and prowess in arithmetic. The member wins the award for irony today. I wish he would win the award for clarity. I asked him a very specific question, that he would rule out future tax increases on Canadian families, the ones the government tried to implement already. Will he not admit that the reason the Liberals will not rule those out is because the only way they can pay for their out-of-control spending is through massive tax increases—

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I also find it troubling when the member talks about the deficit. He was sitting around the cabinet table when the Conservatives added $150 billion to the national debt, but with what to account for it?

Again, in committee last week, he said that we should judge policies based on results, not on intentions. He was quoting an unnamed economist. Surely that was not Stephen Harper, because when we look at the results of the Conservatives' decade in power, it had the worst job creation since 1946, the worst growth in 69 years and the worst growth in exports since the Second World War.

In three years, we have delivered—

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Sherbrooke.

Canada Revenue Agency

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

Mr. Speaker, in 2017, regarding the KPMG affair, the Minister of National Revenue promised to, and I quote, “exhaust all judicial avenues”. She failed.

There is no longer a single tax evader who is afraid of this incompetent minister. On the contrary, she is sending a clear message that she will cut a nice little secret deal with any wealthy individuals caught cheating. The minister wants more transparency, so let us start today with a few questions.

When did the minister become of aware of this new amnesty? Did she think it was appropriate?

If not, what did she do to stop it?

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

I encourage the hon. member to be judicious in his word choice.

The hon. Minister of National Revenue.

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I see my colleague has an interest in tax evasion, so he will be happy to learn that the CRA has published the results of the fight against tax evasion in the real estate sector.

Since 2015, CRA audits have identified over $1 billion in additional gross taxes related to the real estate sector. Nearly 42,000 files were reviewed in Ontario and British Columbia, resulting in over $100 million in assessed penalties.

Our investments are paying off.

Indigenous Affairs

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Mr. Speaker, today we learned that the Minister of Indigenous Services lives in an alternate universe when it comes to Grassy Narrows. He said a deal was in place, but the chief says otherwise. He said shovels were ready, but contractors have not even been lined up.

The Liberals say there is political will, but today Liberal MPs refused to move an NDP motion calling on the government to put the money into a trust fund before it is too late. Is it not ironic that we have finally found the one trust fund our trust fund Prime Minister will not support?

Why is the government choosing to delay, deny and obstruct? Will it finally deliver justice to the people of Grassy Narrows?

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

I encourage members to be judicious and prudent in their comments and try to avoid comments that could be considered insulting.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services]

Mr. Speaker, our government recognizes the health issues that the people of Grassy Narrows have endured for over 50 years and that continue today.

We share the community's goal of finding a solution that meets its needs. We remain steadfast in our commitment to building a health facility in Grassy Narrows. We will continue discussions with the chief and council until we arrive at a solution. This facility will get built.

International Trade

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

Mr. Speaker, it is clear today that, as with canola, the government has no plan to ensure that Canada will be able to continue to export pork to China. If nothing is done, there will be a national crisis.

Canadian exports about $600 million worth of pork to China every year, including $300 million from Quebec, $170 million from Alberta, and $116 million from Manitoba.

The Prime Minister is now saying that he plans to talk to the Chinese president at the G20. Does he realize that Canadian farmers and livestock producers are being held hostage in this political dispute?

What is he waiting for? When will he intervene to help Canadian farmers and livestock producers?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, unlike my Conservative colleagues, it did not take me weeks to realize that the canola crisis was part of a bigger issue.

From day one, my colleagues and I have been working hard on this file. A few weeks ago, I was in Japan, where I met with China's agriculture minister. We agreed that he would discuss the situation with his colleague who is responsible for customs.

I am pleased to inform the House that, just last evening, scientists at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency had a discussion with their Chinese counterparts about canola.

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

Mr. Speaker, for the past five months, we have been asking the Prime Minister to talk to the Chinese president, but he has chosen not to. That is how the Liberal government operates.

The Premier of Quebec said that China's plan to inspect every single shipment of pork is unacceptable. He thinks the Canadian government should be firm in its negotiations with China. The Liberal Prime Minister has not said a word yet.

The problem is that the minister wants nothing to do with this. She is offloading the responsibility onto pork producers and telling them to be careful or suffer the consequences. It does not take a committee to make a call.

Why are the Liberals leaving pork producers to fend for themselves?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, our farmers know how hard our government is working with them and for them. They know how much we are doing to support the system. We have the best agricultural products in the world and one of the best food inspection systems in the world.

I know that our farmers are aware we are standing by them, consulting them and doing what needs to be done to help them and reopen markets, including the Chinese market, as quickly as possible.

Foreign Affairs

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, six months ago, China detained our citizens on trumped-up charges. Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor receive daily interrogations and are in prison with the lights on 24-7. In those six months, our exporters have faced trumped-up claims over the quality of our products, blocking our exports.

It has been half a year of crisis, but only today did the Prime Minister say he is considering engaging directly with the Chinese leadership. He is only considering getting involved after six months.

It has been five months since his hand-picked Liberal ambassador resigned in disgrace. Will the Prime Minister consider appointing a new one?