Guy Caron

[Taxation, March 27th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of State is skating around this issue, so it is no surprise that there is a snowstorm of opposition to the Conservatives in Quebec that is snowballing across the country.

The Minister of Finance was clear. He said that he would not increase taxes. The Prime Minister was clear. He said that he would not increase taxes, yet this Conservative budget includes new taxes on hospital parking, labour-sponsored funds, credit unions, bicycles, safety deposit boxes and small businesses. The Conservatives and the Minister of State flat out deny what is on pages 331 and 332 of the budget.

My question is simple. Why are the Conservatives refusing to tell Canadians the truth?

[Intergovernmental Relations, March 26th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, starting negotiations after decisions have been made amounts to coercion.

The minister has rejected outright the provinces' grievances concerning the shell game he is playing with worker training. It is simple: with one hand he is taking the money given to the provinces and, with the other, he is asking for additional money from the provinces for a program designed and managed by Ottawa. His predecessor did not hold consultations, and the current minister seems to be following his lead.

Is the minister holding discussions with Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia in order to find potential solutions for a problem that he created?

[Témiscouata and Les Basques, March 26th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, two economic gatherings were held in my riding in recent weeks. The first took place in Pohénégamook, in Témiscouata, and the second in Saint-Mathieu-de-Rioux, in Les Basques.

In total, over 300 entrepreneurs and workers met to discuss the economic vitality in my riding. In Témiscouata, there are about 350 job openings in a number of businesses, such as Bégin & Bégin, Les Constructions Unic and Les Produits PBM.

In Les Basques, people shared some wonderful success stories, including that of Basques Hardwood Charcoal, which sells maple charcoal to supply chefs' kitchens across North America, and Fromagerie des Basques, a success story in its own right and the first business of its kind to develop and use its own biomethanation process.

Comments to local media outlets showed how happy people are to finally see some success stories, rather than bad-news stories.

I am proud to have been a part of this initiative. Keep an eye on Témiscouata and Les Basques. Our region's ingenuity knows no bounds.

[Points of Order, March 25th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, this morning, I sent a very important letter to the office of the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

At the end of my remarks, I will seek the unanimous consent of the House to table it.

The letter pertains to a very troubling issue. As hon. members know, the government's budget must remain secret until it is tabled in the House in order to prevent certain individuals from acquiring privileged information from which they could derive personal benefit. Unfortunately, it seems that this is exactly what happened with the most recent budget.

The letter that I sent to the RCMP pertains to an information leak that occurred on March 20 with regard to a tariff reduction on hockey equipment.

Leaking budget information is a very serious offence and also a grave breach of the integrity of the House of Commons. That is why I wish to table this letter today for the benefit of all parliamentarians, who I am sure are as preoccupied as I am with upholding the integrity of our democratic institution.

[Financial Institutions, March 25th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, that is the Conservative way. They do not negotiate with the provinces, they take away $2 billion and then they say that the provinces must match contributions dollar for dollar for the program to work.

I want to talk about another economic model that works but that the Conservatives want to fix. Credit unions have played an instrumental and crucial role in the development of Quebec's thriving business world and in the regional economic development of Quebec.

Despite this economic success, the Conservatives decided to go after credit unions by increasing their taxes, without even having the decency to give them advance warning.

Why do the Conservatives have it in for credit unions?

[Intergovernmental Relations, March 25th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, $10 billion invested over the past 30 years by the Fonds de solidarité FTQ and 500,000 jobs maintained or created: now that is an economic success story.

The Conservatives' decision to centralize workforce training programs does not take into account what the provinces have already achieved.

The latest report from Quebec's labour minister indicated that 140,000 people have found jobs after completing a training program. Last year, Quebec's training initiatives helped save $220 million in EI benefit payments.

Why would the government interfere with something that works?

[The Budget, March 25th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I should not laugh, but it is really very funny.

As I explained in my speech, what he is talking about is completely fictitious and hypothetical. However, the reality is that the Conservative government is increasing Canadians' taxes in this budget, particularly the import tax, also known as a customs tariff, by $1.5 billion. Thus, over $330 million will be taken every year out of the pockets of Canadians because of increased customs tariffs.

The NDP is not talking about hypothetical taxes or measures. The government is bringing in massive tax increases that Canadians will have to pay. The Minister of Finance and the member in question did not brag about that.

[The Budget, March 25th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with much of my colleague's question.

When we become overly dependent on natural resources, especially on the revenue from them, we run the risk of having planning problems, particularly when it comes to the federal budget. Alberta is also having problems related to the budget process.

The reality is that when we depend too much on a single source of revenue, we end up encountering a number of major difficulties. We have to be able to diversify revenue sources to eliminate these uncertainties.

The issue is not so clear, because we are currently talking about the 2013-14 budget. If we were talking about our leader's proposal in favour of an east-west pipeline, I would not have a problem with that. However, the reality is that the impact of these measures will have very long-term consequences.

We are currently studying the immediate measures that the government announced in its budget and that the minister announced as well. We could spend a lot more time debating just this subject in the House.

[The Budget, March 25th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her question.

In fact, this is not just an attack on workers; it is attack on all Canadians. Unions do not benefit from the tax credit for labour-sponsored funds, Canadians do. Taxpayers are the ones who invest in these funds because they want to invest in their local economy, and they are the ones who will pay the price.

In one breath, the government is clawing back $350 million that was allocated as tax credits for labour-sponsored funds, and in the next breath, it is handing $400 million to private companies that have the same mandate but are much less effective and less focused on regional economic development.

Why are we taking $355 million that would go to taxpayers and giving it to venture capital companies to fund them, bail them out or create new companies? That makes no sense. The government has said that it wants tax neutrality, but labour-sponsored funds and credit unions are now at a disadvantage compared to their private counterparts, because they have a very different mandate. From this point on, taxation can no longer reflect that reality.

[The Budget, March 25th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from Winnipeg North for his very pertinent question.

However, I would like to point out that the Conservative government already showed its true colours during the last budget. In fact, it did so a little before the last budget, when it announced it was going to reduce the growth of health care transfers to the provinces, which had been negotiated at 6%, but will be reduced to 3%. This reduction will affect how the provinces manage their health care systems.

What is even more problematic about this loss of revenue for the provinces compared to what they had in the past is the fact that this decision was unilateral. According to a health accord concluded between the federal government and the provinces, negotiation and agreement are needed. Instead, however, the Conservative government made a unilateral decision without negotiating with the provinces or seeking their consent. The same thing is happening right now with labour force training. Ottawa knows best how to manage all that and Ottawa is making decisions without the provinces' agreement.

We believe this is an example of federalism that does not work and proof that this government is refusing to make it work.