Mr. Speaker, since we are at the end of the debate, I would like to try to illustrate the main reasons the Bloc will be voting against Bill C-28.
Through this bill, the Minister of Finance is trying to pass legislation that, in all likelihood, could provide certain tax advantages to his company, Canada Steamship Lines, of which he is the sole owner.
Clause 241 of Bill C-28 would amend section 250 of the Income Tax Act. In this 464 page omnibus bill, clause 241 contains only two paragraphs and it concerns shipping exclusively. The bill is sponsored by the Minister of Finance himself. These two facts constitute the appearance of a conflict of interest, which contravenes the government's code of ethics and that is what we have been seeking explanations for since February 5.
How can the Minister of Finance sponsor a bill containing tax provisions that could benefit his own company, when he is not entitled to speak on the matter in order to avoid a conflict of interest? There is the appearance of a conflict of interest and, given the importance of his position and the requirement that he manage government finances honestly, this great Minister of Finance must be above suspicion.
Even if the minister offers the defence that his company has been in a blind trust since he became minister, he will not always be a minister and may perhaps draw benefit from this tax amendment. The minister and the representatives of his company insist that Canada Steamship Lines does not intend to take advantage of the measures included in clause 241. They do not intend to, but that does not mean they are not entitled to. This is the point we would like to see clarified by the Standing Committee on Finance.
From the start we have demanded that light be cast on this in the finance committee. The Prime Minister tells us: “I have complete confidence in my Minister of Finance. He is not involved, the legislation cannot provide him with any advantages, and if you have any questions, ask them where they should be asked, in the finance committee”. But when we get to the Standing Committee on Finance with its Liberal majority, the majority response is that they want to hear no more witnesses.
In other words, the Prime Minister is saying “You may ask questions, but you will get no answers”. We are entitled to ask questions, but the committee members, most of whom are Liberals, turn around and tell us that they do not want to hear the answers, that their confidence in the finance minister is all they require to be assured that the bill will not bring him any advantages.
I have three main reasons for doubting the confidence inspired by the Minister of Finance. If we remember back to when the Minister of Finance was negotiating the harmonization of the provincial sales taxes in the maritime provinces with the federal sales tax, the Minister of Finance included $1 billion in his financial statements a year before that amount was paid to the maritime provinces.
In other words, he pulled out $1 billion with which to inflate his deficit for that year. In order to avoid what? In order to avoid having to calm down the people who were clamouring for a bit of a break from taxes and budget cuts. It was to the Minister of Finance's advantage to have a higher deficit showing than there actually was, because this took the heat off him, stopped people from demanding more, and from begging “Spare us, we cannot bear the tax burden any longer”.
The minister used a strategy that has been denounced by the auditor general. According to the auditor general, “The Minister of Finance, in keeping with the accounting principles generally recognized for governments, must not proceed in this way. He must allocate to each year the amount of expenditures that occur in that year”. The Minister of Finance did not do so. He cannot be trusted.
Second example. The Minister of Finance decided to establish a Canada Foundation for Innovation with an investment of $800 million. What did the minister do? He budgeted $800 million last year, knowing that not a single cheque would be issued to the foundation until the following year.
Furthermore, the minister allocated $800 million to the foundation in his budget, while it had not yet been officially established. The auditor general told the Minister of Finance he could not do that. He said “There must be transparency and continuity in accounting, and under the rule of continuity books must be kept the same way year after year so that people know where they are going. You cannot do it that way”.
The finance minister's answer was “I am in charge here, and I will do as I please”. He made sure to inflate expenditures by $800 million to avoid, once again, achieving zero deficit too quickly. This way, he could keep penalizing the unemployed, maintain employment insurance premiums and not give a penny more to help children living in poverty. This way, he could keep cruising at his own pace to eventually show a surplus.
In spite of the fact that he was told by the auditor general that he cannot do that, the minister keeps doing as he pleases.
The third example is the millennium fund. The minister is investing $2.5 billion in this fund to grant scholarships to students, but the first cheques will not be issued until the year 2000. Yet he budgeted this amount in the budget for the year that just ended two days ago, on March 31. Not one penny has yet been expended by the government, since the first cheques will be issued in the year 2000.
The Minister of Finance recorded this amount in the budget for fiscal year 1997-98. Why? Because, had he not, he would have had to report a surplus of nearly $3 billion. He did not want to show a surplus, just a zero deficit. Had he reported a surplus, he would have had to use this money in accordance with the people's wishes. So he did not, preferring to keep doing as he pleases.
What did the Bloc Quebecois do? We went before the public accounts committee. Wet denounced this attitude and supported the auditor general's recommendations. But the Liberals, who have a majority also on this committee, showed up in full strength. They came to say that the finance minister was right to behave the way he was behaving, and to do his accounting the way he wants and if, in another year, it suited his purpose to do otherwise, he would do so.
This means that the finance minister, whom the Prime Minister trusts, does what he wants with numbers, even if it lacks transparency, and gives a distorted picture of reality, making people believe things that are not true.
Can we trust a finance minister who behaves in such a way? We say we cannot. So when the minister tells us his company is not involved and will not profit from these benefits, can we trust him?
If the minister can behave the way he has with financial statements, could he not do the same when it comes to two little subclauses on tax relief which could possibly benefit his company? Can we believe him? Judging by his previous behaviour I am not sure we can trust him.
What we are asking him is this, and we are not accusing him of being dishonest. But we are saying “There appears to be something that might benefit you. Could you put our minds at ease and allow the committee to call tax experts who will come and tell us categorically that these two subclauses are unlikely to give any tax advantage to your shipping companies which are registered in Panama?”
This is what we want to know and what the Liberal government has so far refused to tell us. For these reasons, we will not be able to support Bill C-28.
It is still not too late, and we are still hoping the government will wait to put its bill to a vote, withdraw these two subclauses, and come back with it once the committee has prepared a decent report after a comprehensive review.
