Daniel Blaikie

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, September 20th, 2022]

With regard to the Pandora Papers, Panama Papers and Paradise Papers cases and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), broken down by each case: (a) how many auditors are currently assigned to each case, broken down by auditor category; (b) how many audits were completed; (c) how many high risk cases of non-compliance were identified; (d) how many new files were opened; (e) how many files were closed; (f) of the files closed in (e), what was the average time taken to process the file before it was closed; (g) of the files closed in (e), what was the risk level of each file; (h) how much money was spent on suppliers and subcontractors; (i) of the suppliers and subcontractors in (h), what was the initial and final value of each contract; (j) of the suppliers and subcontractors in (h), what is the description of each service contract; (k) how many notices of reassessment were issued; (l) what is the total amount recovered to date; (m) what is the value of total reassessments resulting from audits; (n) what is the total net revenue collected; (o) how many taxpayer files were referred to the CRA’s Criminal Investigations Program; (p) of the investigations in (o), how many were referred to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada; and (q) of the investigations in (p), how many resulted in convictions?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, September 20th, 2022]

With regard to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) high net worth compliance program, broken down by year, from November 2015 to date: (a) how many audits were completed; (b) what is the number of auditors; (c) how many new files were opened; (d) how many files were closed; (e) of the files in (d), what was the average time taken to process the file before it was closed; (f) of the files in (d), what was the risk level of non-compliance of each file; (g) how much was spent on contractors and subcontractors; (h) of the contractors and subcontractors in (g), what is the initial and final value of each contract; (i) among the contractors and subcontractors in (g), what is the description of each service contract; (j) how many reassessments were issued; (k) what is the total net revenue collected; (l) how many taxpayer files were referred to the CRA's Criminal Investigations Program; (m) of the investigations in (l), how many were referred to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada; and (n) of the investigations in (m), how many resulted in convictions?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, September 20th, 2022]

With regard to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit and the Canada Recovery Benefit: (a) how much does the government estimate is owed in repayments; (b) how many individuals owe repayments; (c) how many individuals in (b) reported an income below the low income cut-off on their 2019 tax return; (d) what is the lowest amount owed; (e) what is the highest amount owed; (f) what is the average amount owed; (g) of the individuals owing money, how many does the government estimate were victims of fraud; (h) of the total estimated amount owed, how much does the government expect to (i) successfully recover, (ii) recover from those whose income is below the low income cut-off; and (i) how much does the government intend to spend on staff time and resources to recover these debts, broken down by (i) department, (ii) agency, (iii) other government entity?

[Points of Order, June 21st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I am inclined to agree with my colleague from the Bloc that if members who want to participate are not able to participate, that is a problem.

My point earlier was not that it is not a problem; it was simply that I know Conservatives expressed a lot of enthusiasm about being in the chamber for debate, and I note that they are participating otherwise, presumably because they feel that it is a meaningful form of work. I certainly do not want that meaningful form of work to be interrupted.

I would support a suspension if that is what is called for. I do not want members who want to participate in an important debate to be in a circumstance of not being able to.

[Points of Order, June 21st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I would be prepared to support that.

[Points of Order, June 21st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I personally find it very hard to believe that the Conservatives could be having any trouble with participation by their members as a result of Internet problems.

I know we heard vociferously in question period earlier today that Conservatives want to come to work and want to be in the chamber and feel that participating virtually is not legitimate. Therefore, I would think that any Conservative members who are really keen to participate would be in the chamber pursuant to the remarks of their leader.

I know it has been suggested in some quarters—

[Criminal Code, June 21st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I certainly agree that legislative solutions alone are not enough without added resources at the border to fight illegal gun trafficking from the United States. In a June 2 article in Canada's National Observer, Sandy Garossino wrote that 75% of firearm fatalities were suicides committed by gun owners.

We talked about men's mental health just a week ago in the House, so we know men are much more likely to commit suicide than women. We know these suicides account for the vast majority of firearm fatalities. What are the member's thoughts on that?

[Online Streaming Act, June 20th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I am wondering if the Conservative members are looking beyond their own benches when they call quorum or if they are looking at the House as a whole.

[Finance, June 20th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals keep talking about things they were doing or should have been doing before inflation struck. The fact is that Canadians are worried about losing their homes and are worried about feeding their families, and the Liberal plan is another seven dollars on the GST rebate. That is not a plan. That is a talking point for a government that is more concerned about inflation as a public relations problem than it is about an economic problem. A real plan would provide some debt relief, double the GST rebate and increase the Canada child benefit.

When is the Deputy Prime Minister going to kindly announce that plan?

[The Economy, June 17th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, in her speech at the Empire Club this week, the Deputy Prime Minister treated inflation like it was a public relations problem for the government rather than the very real financial issue that it is for so many Canadians.

As she was speaking, new mothers on employment insurance and others depending on EI were having their EI payments garnished to pay debt back to the government while they were trying to keep their homes. It is the wrong approach. We did not hear anything new in the speech yesterday.

I am hoping we are soon going to hear that the government will bring into force a low-income CERB repayment amnesty and a freeze on payments for middle-class Canadians who are struggling to keep their homes in this time of inflation. When are we going to hear that?