David McGuinty

[Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012, May 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to pick up on a few comments my colleague has made about the question of choices a government makes.

In my riding of Ottawa South, there are 3,250 small businesses. They could have one, five or 50 employees, but they are the backbone of our local economy and the Canadian economy.

I want to ask the member about the choice the government is making about advertising. One of the things I hear from small business owners is how offended they are when they see hundreds of millions of dollars of advertising on TV about some kind of economic action plan, yet their small business taxes are increasing.

Could the member comment on that in terms juxtaposing the government's priorities, self-promotion versus helping to strengthen small businesses?

[Ethics, May 24th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the $90,000 payment to Mike Duffy, when did the Prime Minister find out about the cheque? To whom was it made payable? On which account was the cheque drawn? What was the date of the cheque, and will the government produce a copy of it?

I ask all of this because the Prime Minister stated that Nigel Wright was acting in “his capacity of chief of staff”, and that cheque therefore belongs to the Government of Canada, and Canadians have a right to see it. Will the Conservatives step up and produce it?

[Ethics, May 24th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Senate reports are supposed to be independent. The executive is not allowed, by law, to interfere, but both Senators Tkachuk and Stewart Olsen confirmed that they discussed the whole Duffy audit both with Nigel Wright and the Prime Minister directly.

When did those discussions take place? Who in the Prime Minister's Office saw a copy of the draft Senate report? Has all of this information been provided to the RCMP, and when are we going to get an open, transparent, legitimate airing of the facts?

[Ethics, May 24th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that the Prime Minister and his cabinet plan to support the report on Mike Duffy even though everyone knows it has been whitewashed.

Asking Senators Tkachuk and Stewart Olsen to go over the report is a joke. The Prime Minister has an ethical choice to make here and now: carry on with a corrupt process or support the open, transparent and legitimate disclosure of the facts.

What choice is he going to make for Canadians?

[Questions on the Order Paper, May 10th, 2013]

With regard to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and all Canadian missions since January 1, 2008: (a) has there been a gap of more than two months between the departure of an existing Ambassador and the arrival of the replacement; (b) in how many cases has the department had to send departmental officers or former officers hired on contract to fill in these gaps; (c) what has been the cost of these temporary deployments; and (d) what was the cause of each of these gaps?

[Questions on the Order Paper, May 10th, 2013]

With regard to the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism’s visit to Iraq: (a) what is the complete list of everyone who accompanied the Minister; (b) what was the time, date, location and nature of all government business conducted by the Minister; and (c) what was the total cost of this trip, including but not limited to, airline tickets, accommodations, meals and security for the Minister and everyone who accompanied him?

[Business of Supply, May 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to my colleague's speech and I think I heard him say that the money would appear, that somehow it is going to materialize. That is interesting. We will wait to see how that all works out. However, I would like to ask him a question about money that we know exactly how it was spent, and that is money that relates to government advertising. I would like him and his colleagues to listen for a second and then explain how he can justify this when looking into the eyes of his constituents.

The government has erected 9,000 billboards at a cost of $29 million. It is running economic action plans now on an annual basis at about $100 million a year. It spent $23 million doing media monitoring for 60% of the backbench MPs in the Conservative caucus. It is spending $90,000 per advertisement on each and every ad during the hockey playoff series. That alone would pay for 40 to 50 additional summer student jobs. Can the member and other members of the Conservative caucus, who I am sure are ashamed of this, explain to Canadians how this is possibly defensible given the situation we are in now economically?

[Petitions, May 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am rising today pursuant to Standing Order 36 to table a petition signed by local residents who are urging the government to impose a moratorium on genetically modified alfalfa.

There has yet to be a transparent process established to determine the genetics, preservation or production of GM organisms, nor are there any measures for establishing the possibility of co-existence or cross-contamination or for appropriate mechanisms for transportation.

I am pleased to table this petition. I look forward to the government's response.

[Taxation, May 3rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, in 2006, the government increased taxes on Canada's poorest people, but it did so on the sly. The Conservatives are surreptitiously digging into middle-class Canadians' pocketbooks in order to pay down the deficit. They have increased the tax on EI, which is generating billions of dollars. They have increased taxes on many everyday items.

Why are the Conservatives so bent on increasing taxes while reducing the front-line services that are so important to the middle class?

[Taxation, May 2nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, small businesses got hit with a $2.3 billion tax hike in budget 2013.

To help them cope, the Conservatives are slashing the Canada Revenue Agency's business assistance program. The budget will force victims of violent crimes to pay GST on medical records they need for court. Meanwhile the Conservatives have slashed border services programs, like the K-9 units, that help stop guns and drugs at our borders.

Why are everyday Canadians being forced to pay higher taxes for fewer of their cherished public services?