David Anderson

[The Late Dr. Charles Willoughby, September 18th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, it is my sad duty today to rise in tribute to Dr. Charles Willoughby who was a former member of this House.

Dr. Willoughby lived a long and very distinguished life practising medicine in the interior of British Columbia for many decades and serving as MP for Kamloops from 1963 through to 1965 when Davey Fulton was serving in provincial politics. He was said by one of his successors in the riding, now Senator Len Marchand, to have been regarded as one of the finest gentlemen of his community.

There are few Canadians who have been privileged to witness the unfolding of Canadian history as much as Dr. Willoughby who was born in rural Ontario 101 years ago when David Thompson was Prime Minister. He served in this House in the days of Prime Minister Pearson and Prime Minister Diefenbaker and indeed lived to see a fellow member of the class of 1963, the member from Shawinigan in turn become Prime Minister in 1993.

Dr. Willoughby wrote two books, one when he was 99 years old. One is called From Leeches to Lasers and is about the development of medicine. The other is titled Shuswap Memories , his warm, vivid and sympathetic recollections of his years in the Shuswap country in the early decades of this century.

Dr. Willoughby had four children, 20 grandchildren and 33 great grandchildren. I know everyone in this House offers their condolences to his family and friends at this sad time.

While it is sad to say goodbye to such a distinguished British Columbian and Canadian, I am sure that all of us also hope to enjoy as long and as rich a life as that of Dr. Charles Willoughby.

[Manganese-Based Fuel Additives Act, June 19th, 1995]

moved that Bill C-94, an act to regulate interprovincial trade in and the importation for commercial purposes of certain manganese-based substances, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

[Ways And Means, June 19th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 83(1) I wish to table a notice of ways and means motion to amend the Excise Tax Act and the Income Tax Act.

I ask that an order of the day be designated for consideration of the motion.

[The Late Robert Lloyd Wenman, June 19th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, it is with a deep sense of loss that I rise to recall the life and the untimely death of Bob Wenman, a man dedicated to the country, to his province of British Columbia and to public service.

My friend, Bob Wenman, died last week in British Columbia at the age of 54 after a political career spanning almost 30 years, including 19 years in the House of Commons, representing the constituents of Fraser Valley West.

It is Bob's principled and distinguished life rather than his passing which will remain fixed in the minds of those of us who knew him.

Bob began his political career at the age of 25 in 1966 as a Social Credit MLA in the provincial legislature of the province of British Columbia. From that early start until last week he led a life marked by an unwavering commitment to stand by his beliefs and ideals. Whether or not his views were popular, Bob was resolute in upholding and promoting those things that he believed to be right.

During his final years in public office, Bob's commitment to family values, the environment and Canada's relationship with countries in the Pacific rim was very evident.

He is survived by his wife Donna and four children, Ken, Jill, Kiven and Kraig, and our thoughts are with them at this very difficult time. I hope his family and his many friends are able to take solace in the knowledge that his contribution to his province and to the country will long be remembered.

[Customs, June 19th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question.

There was a series of measures undertaken under the general heading of the U.S.-Canada border accord but also in addition and outside that to make the border a more secure element of our national life.

We are attempting to streamline processes to make sure that for the honest traveller people have less hassle, indeed no hassle, and for those who would break the law the border becomes a brick wall.

Among the various examples of what we are doing was the announcement I made in Hamilton last Friday of a new pilot project for private aircraft that will allow free clearance of small planes coming into Canada using selective small airports. Those in this pilot project are Brantford, Buttonville, Gooderich, Oshawa, Pelee Island, Peterborough and Sarnia. We hope to expand this program nationwide next year.

[Questions On The Order Paper, June 15th, 1995]

The information requested is not available as Revenue Canada does not keep statistics on the number of goods and services tax, GST, credit payments issued to status Indians. In addition, the department does not categorize individuals by status or residence and is therefore unable to extrapolate the requested information from its data banks.

[Questions On The Order Paper, June 15th, 1995]

Remote stores are not required to accumulate or report on the total dollar value of their sales to Indians. There is no requirement in law for reporting this information to Revenue Canada. Moreover, accumulating such information would significantly increase the vendor's reporting requirements.

Off reserve vendors qualifying as remote stores are entitled to waive the delivery requirement on tax relieved sales to Indians. The department does not maintain a comprehensive list of qualifying remote store vendors. The individual vendors are responsible for determining their eligibility as a remote store and are accountable for the GST receivable if they did not meet the requirements. Their eligibility is later verified by a deparmental audit.

Question No. 188-

[Questions On The Order Paper, June 15th, 1995]

Although Revenue Canada gathers information to administer the Excise Tax Act on the goods and services tax return including the amount of the GST collected and input tax credits claimed by each registrant, information is not collected on exemptions for particular groups. Consequently, it is not possible to provide the data requested.

Question No. 187-

[Income Tax, June 12th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question and the concern he has for this important area of public policy which goes well beyond the tax area.

The hon. Minister of Justice has made it clear we are shortly to bring forward provisions with respect to maintenance and support and in relation to the Thibaudeau decision. These will soon be brought forward and I know that he among other members will be very interested in seeing them.

As for the department and the responsibility we have for collection for those who may have been concerned about the impact of the Thibaudeau decision, I assure him we will continue our normal practice of making sure the collections take place with sensitivity and with full understanding of the position individuals may find themselves in.

It is certainly not our intention to hassle single parents or to go after their last dime.

[Council For Canadian Unity, June 9th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, once again with respect to companies as opposed to individuals the rules are quite clear. A company can make expenditures and provide money to organizations but the final line in terms of determining this, which again is in the courts and not in the hands of the department, is whether it advances the business interests of the company involved.