Cathy McLeod

[Employment, December 2nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I think I had better take over from my speechless colleague.

November's full-time job gains and Canada's recent third-quarter results were very encouraging. We do sympathize with those Canadians who have lost their jobs recently. It is important to note that while almost 600,000 net new jobs have been created since July 2009 and the OECD has confirmed that we will have the strongest economic growth in the G7 over the next few years, Canada is not immune to global economic turbulence from outside our borders. As we have said all along, the global recovery is fragile and we continue to have our economic action plan in place.

[November 30th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I have to reinforce this because it is very important. The government does take the issue very seriously. The minister has been clear that we will not tolerate the type of activities alleged. An RCMP investigation into these matters is ongoing and CRA officials are co-operating fully. We are confident in the RCMP's ability to conduct this investigation.

The integrity of our tax system is of course important to all Canadians. Our government will take any steps necessary to ensure that it is protected. Canada has one of the most successful and internationally praised systems of tax administration in the world. CRA is recognized as a world leader in administering the nation's taxes and the overwhelming majority of the 40,000 employees are above reproach.

In those exceptionally rare cases where there is a breach of the public trust, the CRA acts swiftly to take corrective action. In these cases, I would ask my colleague across the way to please allow the RCMP to do its job free of political interference. It is really not a time to try to score cheap political points with such a serious issue.

[November 30th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the government takes this issue very seriously. We cannot tolerate the types of activities that are alleged. An RCMP investigation into these matters is ongoing and CRA officials are co-operating fully. Many of these allegations date back more than a decade and some of these cases are currently making their way through the courts. The integrity of our tax system is important to all Canadians and our government will take any steps necessary to ensure it is protected. It would not be appropriate to comment further or to add political interference in an RCMP investigation.

Having said that, I want to assure the House that CRA employees are held to a very high standard and any type of allegation of wrongdoing or inappropriate conduct is taken very seriously by our government. CRA employees are subject to the laws, as are all Canadians. Accordingly in cases where CRA employees are found to be involved in criminal activity, they are subject to prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.

The CRA investigates all allegations of employee misconduct. All CRA employees are subject to a strict standard of conduct, which is clearly defined in the agency's Code of Ethics and Conduct. Breaches of the standard of conduct may result in disciplinary measures up to and including termination of employment. The CRA expects that its employees, like all Canadian taxpayers, will meet their personal tax obligations and that they will respect the system within which they are employed. Our government's absolute expectation is that the appropriate authorities take all steps necessary to ensure Canada's law is respected.

Unlike the opposition, we have faith in the RCMP. We await the outcome of its investigation. I would encourage my colleague to allow this work to go ahead free of unhelpful and potentially damaging political rhetoric and inappropriate political interference.

[November 30th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, again the opposition continues to muckrake and bring up issues.

Canadians right now are incredibly concerned about jobs and the economy, so let me just go back on this particular question and say that all documents were provided. The Auditor General and the RCMP have reviewed all the facts in the case and our government accepts the Auditor General's recommendations. The NDP has not given us any information that changes these facts, so again, we accept the Auditor General's recommendations and it has been thoroughly aired in this Parliament.

[November 30th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to respond to the question from my hon. colleague. To be quite frank, this issue has been thoroughly aired and here are the facts.

The Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario has said that all the documents were provided to the Auditor General. Our government accepts the Auditor General's recommendations and will improve the process in the future. The Auditor General and now the RCMP have reviewed all of the facts in this case and the NDP has not produced any information that changes these facts.

This is the same kind of muckraking that Canadians rejected in the last election. We will remain focused on what matters to Canadians, and that is jobs and the economy.

[Safe Streets and Communities Act, November 30th, 2011]

Madam Speaker, I want to talk about something that happened in my riding last week that was reported on the front page of our local newspaper.

There was a big article on a sexual predator who had been released. He kidnapped someone and abused this person. It was a horrific incident in our community. Right below that was an article on the little protest at my office where a few people showed up with signs protesting against Bill C-10.

Many people called me and said that this fellow was out and he should not have been as he was high risk to reoffend. They said, “Look what he has done to this person in our community”.

I would like to ask the justice minister, why is it important? Why can we not spend the next five to six months debating this legislation? Why do we need to move forward and act now?

[Taxation, November 25th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, again, it is unfortunate that the Conservative government is having to clean up the Liberal mess on this issue.

However, I do want to reassure the House, because it is very important for the fishers, that a dedicated team has been set up to review each of the fishers' requests. Our expectation is that the reassessment will begin to be issued in the upcoming weeks.

[Taxation, November 25th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, service to all Canadians is important, and we have acted immediately after the court decision. We created a dedicated team to review each of the fishers' requests, and our expectation is that reassessments will begin to be issued in the coming weeks.

I would, however, like to point out that the member for Cardigan was at the cabinet table, and was really a member when the previous Liberal government came up with a poorly worded policy that led to confusion and a decade of unfortunate legal battles.

[New Democratic Party of Canada, November 22nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the economic policies of the NDP are truly disappointing. Rather than supporting our government's economic action plan to create jobs, the NDP supports policies that would be devastating to our economy.

Last week, members of the NDP caucus were in Washington protesting against our energy sector while here at home they chose to vote against the budget implementation act.

Canadians gave our Conservative government a strong mandate to stay focused on what matters: creating jobs and economic growth.

Key tax relief measures passed yesterday include the family caregivers tax credit, the children's arts tax credit, the volunteer firefighters tax credit, tax relief for the manufacturing sector, tax relief for small businesses when they create jobs and making the gas tax fund permanent.

While the global economy is still fragile, we remain focused on what matters: a low-tax plan to create jobs and economic growth, a plan that is working.

The NDP's fiscal policies are yet another worrying example that the NDP--

[Keeping Canada's Economy and Jobs Growing Act, November 21st, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot help but contrast the remarks of the member for Prince Edward—Hastings and the remarks of the member for Timmins—James Bay.

Our colleague from Timmins—James Bay talked about his broken promise on the long gun registry and that his constituents were wondering about the plan, what were we doing about doctors and what were we doing about jobs and growth. I think the member for Prince Edward—Hastings answered it very articulately.

I would appreciate it if he would talk about the rural doctor issue.