Guy Caron

[Taxation, February 8th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, let me recap the situation for the minister.

Turquoise Hill Resources is a mining company based in Vancouver. It made $2.1 billion in profits and paid exactly zero in corporate income taxes in Canada. Instead, it declared those profits in Luxembourg, which employs one part-time employee. As far as I know, Vancouver is not in Luxembourg.

If a Canadian company does not feel Canadian enough to pay taxes here, why should it be Canadian enough to get loans and grants from the government?

[Taxation, February 8th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, Turquoise Hill Resources, a Canadian mining company based in Vancouver avoids paying almost $700 million in taxes here in Canada. As a result of this company's shell games, the government is losing $700 million that could be used to fund our public infrastructure and services. However, instead of dealing with the problem, the government is lending the company $1 billion to fund its overseas projects.

Does the government think that investing in companies that engage in aggressive tax avoidance is a good idea?

[Taxation, February 7th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, today the Prime Minister is travelling to Silicon Valley to visit Amazon. Will he be asking it to impose taxes on the products it sells in Canada, as it should, or will he be negotiating a cozy deal?

What we are asking for is simple fairness. When a company is exempt from collecting taxes on its sales, it is being given an unfair 8% to 15% advantage. If we do not ensure the same rules apply for everyone, then we are playing favourites.

Why does the government have one set of tax rules for web giants and another one for everybody else?

[Taxation, February 7th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, wants web giants to pay their fair share of taxes in Europe. It seems logical to have companies pay their fair share of taxes, but the Canadian government is taking a step backward. It is going in the opposite direction and allowing web giants to forgo paying their fair share of taxes.

While companies here are charging sales tax on every transaction, why is the government showing favouritism to web giants such as Amazon, Netflix, and Facebook?

[Taxation, February 6th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, he does not get it. We are not talking about a new tax; we are talking about a tax that already exists and must be collected by Canadian competitors. He needs to follow the example of France, Australia, and many American states that have decided to make these web giants pay. Even here at home, the whole province of Quebec wants to do the same. Imposing on Bombardier a sales tax that is not required of Boeing would be unthinkable, so why do it in the online sector? Not only is the Prime Minister trying to justify these tax breaks, but he is going even further by making deals with those companies.

When will the Liberals stop getting into bed with these web giants?

[Taxation, February 6th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, when we ask him why web giants like Netflix and Facebook do not have to charge sales tax even though their Canadian competitors do, the Prime Minister says that he promised not to raise taxes for the middle class. We are talking about a tax that already exists, sales tax. We want fairness in the industry. It is unacceptable that the Prime Minister does not have the courage to ask web giants to pay their fair share.

When will the Prime Minister understand that and insist on fair treatment for the entire industry?

[Taxation, February 5th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, is it fair that Netflix, Facebook, and other web giants have to pay neither sales nor income tax whereas Canadian companies in the same sector do? Around the world, other countries are trying to make sure that these web giants pay their fair share. Australia and the European Union are excellent examples. After all, it is those giants that are going to monopolize the advertising market and suck the lifeblood out of our print media. They are also responsible for the challenges facing print media. Instead of reining in the web giants and ensuring a level playing field for everyone, the Liberals want to make this preferential treatment official.

When will the Liberals show some backbone and level the playing field?

[Taxation, February 5th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, what should we do when a Canadian mining company uses tax schemes to avoid paying almost $700 million in taxes here in Canada? Common sense would dictate that we at least investigate this company. Instead, the government will be lending it more than $1 billion for its foreign activities. A company that uses an address in a tax haven to avoid paying taxes here should at least be ineligible for grants and loans.

Does the Prime Minister agree with this principle and, if he does, will he cancel this loan?

[Canada Revenue Agency, February 1st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, that does not explain why Spain is getting results and we are not.

It is clear to me that the minister, right now, is protecting incompetence. The Canada Revenue Agency moves at a snail's pace against fraudsters using offshore tax havens. While the U.S. heavily fines KPMG for facilitating tax evasion, the CRA gives KPMG a slap on the wrist for the same offence.

Half the calls the agency receives go unanswered, and 30% of the information given to the other half is actually wrong. Why is the government rewarding incompetence by giving CRA executives $35,000 bonuses?

[Canada Revenue Agency, February 1st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the Panama papers scandal broke in 2016, and to date, revenue agencies around the world have managed to recover over a half a billion dollars from the identified tax cheats. Spain alone managed to recover $122 million.

The Canada Revenue Agency is telling us that it will not have anything to report on this until 2020. The CRA brings out the big guns to deal with small taxpayers but treats big-time fraudsters with kid gloves.

The Liberals have a clear choice. Will they require the CRA to be accountable to Canadians or will they continue to protect the agency's incompetent leaders?