Guy Caron

[Ethics, November 27th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I can see why the finance minister is actually so nervous. With all of the ethical scandals surrounding him, Liberal MPs are also becoming nervous. They are scared that the minister's mistakes will hurt them, and they get it. The whole story just seems to be getting worse and worse. They talk with their constituents the way we do, and they know that Canadians are fed up with Liberals working for themselves and for their friends. How does the finance minister hope to regain the trust of Canadians when even his own colleagues are starting to lose faith in him?

[Ethics, November 27th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, if the Minister of Finance's hands were clean, he would not have paid a fine for failing to declare all of his assets.

The Minister of Finance actually has a big problem, because every time he tells us that everything has been straightened out, someone digs a little deeper and finds out that there is more to the story. Now we know that his former company, Morneau Shepell, regularly signs multi-million-dollar contracts with the government.

Knowing this, can the minister explain why, shortly after the election, the president and CEO of Morneau Shepell told his shareholders, and I quote, Government and other public sector organizations represent a significant growth opportunity?

[November 23rd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the minister seems to think she is entitled to her own facts, but let us go through the facts.

The paradise papers initially revealed that Stephen Bronfman had ties to a trust in the Cayman Islands. Bronfman denied it and said he gave a loan that was quickly paid back by 1998. Well, that was false, because today we learned that as of 2005, there was still $7 million outstanding on that loan.

The government seems to be very content to accept whatever fish tale their well-connected friends cook up. When will the minister understand that Canadians are fed up with this double standard?

[November 23rd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, when Stephen Bronfman was named in the paradise papers, he swore, hand on heart, that he had not had any involvement since 1998, in any way, directly or indirectly. However, today we learned that he still had ties to a trust in the Cayman Islands in 2005.

Here is a very simple multiple-choice question: a) Stephen Bronfman lied to the Prime Minister; b) the Prime Minister misled the House. Which answer is correct?

[Ethics, November 22nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I sense a pattern. When the Conservatives are in government, they blame everything on the Liberals. When the Liberals are in government, they blame everything on the Conservatives.

What the Liberals need to understand is that their own Minister of Finance is currently under investigation for introducing a bill that could have helped him and several of his colleagues make millions of dollars.

Bonus: he does not think there is anything wrong with this. Double bonus: he does not think there is anything wrong with holding assets in a company he is in charge of regulating. The Liberals promised higher ethical standards. Why can they not even enforce the bare minimum?

[Canada Revenue Agency, November 22nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I am a bit confused because while Liberals help Stephen Bronfman and other friends who use tax havens to avoid paying taxes, Canadians cannot speak to anyone when they call the CRA to get help with paying taxes. While the finance minister gets a free pass from the Prime Minister, despite the fact he has interests in a company he is in charge of regulating, hundreds of thousands of public servants are paying the price for the Liberal government's incompetence in the Phoenix fiasco.

Liberals have usually waited at least one full term before demonstrating a sense of entitlement. Why are they in such a rush now?

[Public Services and Procurement, November 21st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, it was the current government that said that the system was good to go.

The Liberals have no idea what is causing the problem, nor do they know the extent of it, and to top it off, they are making the situation worse.

The Auditor General made it clear that fixing Phoenix, if indeed it can be fixed, will take years and cost us over $1 billion. In response, the Prime Minister said the same thing he said last year, the same thing he said the year before, and the same thing he is likely to say a year from now.

When Canadians buy something that does not work, they take it back for a refund.

Have the Liberals kept the receipt so they can get their money back, or will Canadians end up paying for this?

[Public Services and Procurement, November 21st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, when we ask about the Phoenix pay system fiasco, every answer from the Liberals is to blame the Conservatives for it. Against the advice of their experts and public servants, they decided to push the button.

They cannot hide behind the Conservatives. They have underestimated the problems. They still do not have a comprehensive plan, and worse, they do not know the full extent and causes of those problems. While they act like amateurs, hundreds of thousands of public servants are feeling the pain.

How long will the Liberals keep throwing good money after bad? Who will be held accountable and who will fix this mess?

[Ethics, November 20th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, when people look at the minister's involvement in Bill C-27, everyone sees the same thing.

All of the opposition parties had pointed out problems, and today it emerged that an organization representing retired Canada Post workers had already raised the same concerns with the commissioner. I teach my kids to take responsibility for their actions, and I am sure the Prime Minister does the same with his.

Will he demand less from the Minister of Finance than he does from his own children?

[Ethics, November 20th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, for weeks now, the Minister of Finance has been telling us over and over that he did not break the law and that he followed all the rules.

Even when the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner fined him for breaking the law, he kept saying he had done nothing wrong. Now the commissioner has confirmed that she is going to open an investigation into the minister's involvement in Bill C-27.

How can the Prime Minister keep defending his minister when he is still officially under investigation?