Hélène LeBlanc

[Business of Supply, April 1st, 2014]

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

I would also like to thank her for reminding us that a good, accountable government prioritizes the right things by investing in and supporting initiatives of vital importance to Canada. This government abandoned one such world-class initiative, the Experimental Lakes Area, a one-of-a-kind science program that helped us save waterways and learn about the environmental consequences of various elements.

Can she talk about how a good, accountable government would make wise choices to save projects and initiatives such as the Experimental Lakes Area or to invest in new co-ops?

[Pink Tie Event, March 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I attended a “pink tie” event put on by the Montreal regional conference of elected officials. The evening's theme was “the added value of equality”. At the event, I met women entrepreneurs, presidents of chambers of commerce and boards of directors, and women elected as officials of the City of Montreal.

Women are becoming increasingly active in a wide range of sectors and are assuming their rightful place in decision-making positions. They are demonstrating courage, creativity and leadership.

In LaSalle—Émard, I wish to commend the achievements of groups dedicated to women's advocacy: Mamies immigrantes pour le développement et l'intégration; the Centre communautaire des femmes actives; and the Association Messinese de Montréal.

As chair of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, I tip my hat—and my pink tie—to all women who really help make our society better.

[Canada-Honduras Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, March 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I listened very carefully to the speech just given by a government member.

Although I do not want to call into question his sincerity when it comes to agreements and respecting the environment, I would like to express my doubt—with a capital “D”—about the government's sincerity and intentions when it comes to protecting the environment.

However, that is not what my question is about. I would like the government member to tell me truthfully what Honduras is going to buy. What products is Canada going to sell to this country? What Canadian products is Honduras interested in buying?

Trade involves purchases and so forth. What is Honduras going to buy from Canada to help us regain our trade balance? Right now we have a significant deficit.

[Canada-Honduras Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, March 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the speech that was just given by a government member.

How is it that, after signing a number of free trade agreements under this government, Canada has gone from having a $26 billion trade surplus to having a $62 billion trade deficit?

How can the government continue to sit back and do nothing as businesses close or outsource jobs? Why is the government doing nothing while foreign state-owned enterprises are buying up our natural resources?

Why is the government still promoting these agreements?

[Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nation Act, March 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am always stunned by how little respect all Conservative members seem to have for their duties as members of Parliament and the privilege of representing their constituents. I am always surprised to see that they do not care about representing their constituents.

Here in the House of Commons, it is our duty to represent our constituents and to ensure that we can debate this bill properly.

I would like to ask the minister why he is ignoring his duty and showing no respect for what a privilege it is to be here in the House of Commons.

[Tax Evasion, February 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, today, I address my colleagues and all Canadians with the intent of expressing my support for Motion No. 485 on tax havens moved by my colleague, the hon. member for Rivière-du-Nord.

This motion calls on the government to take all the necessary measures to ensure that certain Canadians and Canadian businesses stop using tax havens to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. I reaffirm my support for this important initiative, which, once again, shows the NDP's interest in working on developing measures to protect Canada's finances and economy.

The motion calls on the government to address the problem of tax evasion. This motion proposes five measures. I would like to talk about three of those measures. The motion calls on the government to accurately measure the Canadian tax losses to international tax havens and tax evasion, in order to determine the Canadian federal tax gap.

Then it calls on the government to take measures to allow federal agencies to study the federal tax gap arising from tax evasion and tax avoidance through the use of tax havens.

Also, under one of the five measures that the motion proposes, the Auditor General would evaluate, on a regular basis, the success of the Canada Revenue Agency in prosecuting and settling cases of tax evasion.

This motion targets various aspects of tax evasion while enhancing the government's ability to act efficiently. The government must get tougher on tax evasion.

That is why the estimate of the Canadian federal tax gap arising from tax evasion, as proposed in this motion, is so important to fighting tax erosion and measuring how effective potential corrective measures will be. Public policy must reflect a needs analysis that identifies the best solutions. We have to be aware of how important it is to pass the measures in this motion without delay.

Estimates released on behalf of Oxfam International in 2013 illustrate the extent of the problem. According to the organization, individuals have hidden at least $18,500 billion in tax havens worldwide, which represents a tax gap of over $156 billion for governments. In Canada, independent estimates have indicated that tax revenues lost to foreign tax havens could add up to between $5 billion and $7.8 billion per year.

A Globe and Mail article published in May 2013 discussed this problem. It also provided information about the locations of these tax havens and the money Canadians had parked there. The article said:

The amount of money Canadians have parked in three top offshore tax havens has more than doubled since 2005, showing the scale of tax avoidance in Canada is “getting larger every year,” says lobby group Canadians for Tax Fairness.

The advocacy group, which is pressuring the government to do more to crack down on the flow of money to tax havens, says Canadians now have $59-billion invested in Barbados, $30-billion in the Cayman Islands and $20-billion in Luxembourg — the three biggest offshore tax haven destinations for Canadian funds.

If the government really wanted to tackle tax havens, it would be better off not cutting the CRA's budget but making sure that the Agency has the resources it needs to prevent tax evasion and conduct investigations when necessary. Unfortunately, if measures are not taken, tax cheats will go unpunished while thousands of honest Canadians will continue to bear more than their share of the tax burden.

Taxpayers in LaSalle—Émard contribute to Canada's tax revenues and will continue to do so by completing their tax returns. This is the time of the year when people do that, and they can do so until April. They make honest contributions, as do small and medium businesses. Canadian taxpayers, mostly those in the middle class, and small and medium businesses bear the bulk of the tax burden in Canada. They are the ones who pay most of the tax to federal, provincial and municipal governments. These Canadian taxpayers, the taxpayers in my riding, LaSalle—Émard, are demanding tax fairness.

However, it is clear that some individuals do not do their duty to pay taxes in Canada. In light of this fact, my constituents have two questions: why does Canada not introduce measures to identify the fraudsters, and why is the government deliberately walking away from billions of dollars in revenue that could help finance all kinds of programs and services for Canadians?

A very shocking article in Le Devoir quoted the latest book by Alain Deneault of the Université de Montréal's political science department, entitled Paradis fiscaux : la filière canadienne. Mr. Deneault points out that the link between Canada and some tax havens goes back to the 19th century. The article said:

As a result, when Caribbean countries started to become tax havens about 60 years ago, “Canadian banks were already there”. One after another, they gradually moved into the Caribbean: Scotiabank (Jamaica, 1889); Royal Bank (Bahamas, 1909); CIBC (Jamaica, 1920); and so on.

Later in the article, the author mentions a report that a panel presented to Industry Canada in 2009:

“For example, Canadians invest more than four times as much in Barbados (7.3 percent) as they do in Brazil (1.6 percent). Indeed, Canadian investment in the relatively small Caribbean economies of Barbados, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands represents 12 percent of the total.”

The motion before us today suggests concrete measures to address the problem of tax havens. These measures will finally create tax fairness for my constituents and also for all Canadian taxpayers, meaning that each and every person will contribute to the well-being and advancement of our country.

I urge the government members and all of my colleagues to unanimously support and vote in favour of Motion No. 485 on tax havens.

[Tax Evasion, February 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank my hon. colleague from Rivière-du-Nord for his excellent speech and for his passionate commitment to exposing this tax injustice that exists in Canada and the huge burden it puts on our economy. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on his motion.

I would like to ask my colleague what economic impact this use of tax havens has on Canada. I wonder if he could also talk about the Conservatives' lax approach to developing effective measures to combat tax havens.

[Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, February 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Pierrefonds—Dollard for her excellent speech, for the way she is dealing with the citizenship and immigration file and for doing such a wonderful job of defending these issues.

Our ridings are next to each other, and both of our constituency offices deal with a lot of immigration cases. Wait times are far too long, as we have mentioned. I would like to hear more about what she thinks about the economic and social costs that these wait times have on Canadian society.

[The Budget, February 25th, 2014]

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

It is actually more than a philosophy. The co-operative movement is about creating an economy that serves people, the community and society. Co-operatives emerge in response to a need and are part of Canada's DNA. They are part of our heritage. Co-operatives came into being in places like Saskatchewan because there came a time when people had to get together to create the services they needed knowing that there is strength in numbers.

In Quebec, the Mouvement Desjardins arose out of that desire to provide services at a time when banks were turning away people who wanted to start businesses or farm. In Alberta, I met with the association that brought electricity to the province because private companies did not want to bring power to rural areas. It is a rural electrification co-operative in Alberta.

Clearly this is part of Canada's DNA and our history. Why is the government turning its back on co-operatives?

[The Budget, February 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for the question.

In fact, the current government is turning its back on the regions and the co-operative movement. This movement is deeply rooted in the communities. It provides local jobs. It is good for the local economy. These people are not going to get up and relocate when the wind changes. They are deeply rooted and they not only help the communities, but they also meet pressing needs in big cities.

That is why we have seen co-operative health care and arts and culture co-operatives pop up. In remote regions, the co-operative movement is often the only existing service—whether it is a co-operative, a store, a hardware store, a gas station or a credit union—and it maintains the economic life of our communities in our beautiful and great country.