James Rajotte

[National Charities Week Act, March 19th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise today to speak to Bill C-458, a private member's bill introduced by my friend and colleague, the member for Kitchener—Waterloo. I will support this bill at second reading and I hope all members on both sides of the House do the same. It has certainly received some positive support in the speeches I have heard thus far, which I also appreciate.

As the member for Kitchener—Waterloo pointed out, the bill would establish the last seven days of February as national charities week and would extend the tax deadline to claim charitable donations from December 31 to the end of March, matching the deadline for RRSP contributions. The member's objective is obviously quite noble, seeking to encourage a greater number of Canadians to give more generously to charities, supporting these organizations in their valuable work both in Canada and around the world. As chair of the finance committee, I hope and fully expect that Bill C-458 will be supported by all parties and I look forward to further discussion and analysis of this proposal, including hearing from the member and from a wide range of groups in the charitable sector.

However, before I speak directly to the legislation before the House today, I will take an opportunity, as his colleague, to recognize the member for Kitchener—Waterloo for his truly outstanding record in support of the charitable sector since first being elected in 2008. In 2010, he sponsored Motion No. 559, which called for the Standing Committee on Finance to study tax incentives for charitable donations, a motion that was supported by all parties. Having a colleague supported by all parties is quite unique in the House. I am very happy to report that after extensive work last year and into early this year, the finance committee completed that important study, and I encourage all parliamentarians and Canadians to view that study.

As chair of the committee, I can tell the House that we heard important evidence showing the need for the government to help foster and promote a culture of giving. Not only that, but we learned that tax incentives had a definite role to play in increasing the number of new donors and encouraging existing donors to give even more. I am pleased to report that the committee's study brought attention to the importance of charitable giving. I am confident it will help inform the government's further action to support charities.

With this outcome, we can all agree that the member's contributions to date have truly been invaluable. His reputation in this regard is well known. Imagine Canada, the leading umbrella organization representing Canadian charities, has praised the member's willingness to consult with it on new ideas, saying, “[The member] has been and continues to be a real champion for the charitable sector...He demonstrates a sound understanding of the issues we’re facing”. I am sure my colleagues on both sides of the House will agree with that assessment and will join our government in sending the bill to the finance committee for the hearing that it deserves.

In supporting this proposal to committee, a proposal which was raised during the previous study which I mentioned, we can ensure that it will be carefully considered by both parliamentarians and charities alike. At committee, we can answer the questions that have been raised by members during this debate today. We can conduct a thorough examination of the bill.

An important consideration is how this proposal will be effective in encouraging Canadians to increase their donations. A study at the finance committee will help us to determine to what degree a later deadline for annual contributions will impact donations and at what cost. We will also hear from charities about the potential impact of a March 1 deadline on their ability to deliver important services to Canadians.

Currently, organizations have about six to eight weeks following the end of the year to get tax receipts to donors for early filing. If the deadline were to be moved 12 weeks later, charities would obviously have to make the necessary administrative adjustments. However, the most important reason for members to vote to send the bill to committee is that charities could share their views on this important bill and on this topic.

On the larger issues of charities, which I want to address and which some other members have spoken about today, I emphasize that our Conservative government fully supports the important work of charities to improve the lives of Canadians who rely on their support. Each and every day, selfless and remarkable volunteers make a difference in lives all across the country without expecting anything in return. In fact, there are over 160,000 Canadian charities and non-profit organizations that support worthwhile causes in our communities. That is an amazing number, of which all members should be proud.

That is why our government is committed to the charitable sector and we have continuously strengthened that commitment, including successive actions to improve tax incentives for donations. I will remind members of a few of these actions.

Budget 2006 exempted gifts of publicly listed securities from capital gains tax and extended that exemption to donations of ecologically sensitive land to public conservation charities.

Budget 2008 extended the exemption to certain donations of exchangeable shares.

Budget 2010 significantly reformed the disbursement quota rules for charities, reducing administrative complexity and better enabling charities to focus their time and resources on their charitable activities.

Budgets 2011 and 2012 introduced important integrity measures to ensure transparency and accountability for charities designed to combat fraud and abuse in the charitable sector, helping to increase the confidence of Canadians that their hard-earned dollars would be used exactly in the spirit that they were intended.

Our government wholeheartedly supports the intent of Bill C-458, and I applaud the selfless efforts by my hon. colleague to better support charities in carrying out their important work. Indeed, the bill has the potential to encourage Canadians to give more generously to charities than ever before, empowering these organizations to make an even bigger difference in communities across our country.

Nevertheless, it is vital that my colleagues on the finance committee and all parliamentarians have an opportunity to examine the bill in greater detail to ensure charities have an opportunity to share their perspective on this unique and very exciting proposal.

I would like to quote from a recent National Post editorial that praised the legislation before us today, noting that:

Too often of late, private member’s bills have served explicitly partisan ends. [The member for Kitchener—Waterloo's] Bill C-458, however, seeks to improve the lot of needy citizens simply by adjusting a bureaucratic formality. This is the sort of effort we’d like to see more of in parliament...

Speaking as someone who has been in this chamber for over 12 years, the member for Kitchener—Waterloo serves as an example for all of us in terms of how we can have an impact on a policy process, how we can have an impact on the budgets that are presented in the House of Commons and how we can truly improve the lives of Canadians from coast to coast.

I am therefore very proud to support the bill at second reading. I hope we can study it at the finance committee as soon as possible. I encourage all members on both sides of the House to support it.

[Food Security, March 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize two constituents, Wendy and John Taekema, who have been involved with local growing to support the Canadian Foodgrains Bank for the past 14 years. Their local group rents 280 acres of land just south of Leduc, and in 14 years the growing project has contributed just over $1.1 million to this program.

John and Wendy even went to Kenya and Rwanda to see the impact of their local growing project and distribute food to drought-stricken people near Voi, Kenya. The Kenyans were very thankful for the food provided by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank with the help of CIDA.

John and Wendy also spent two nights in a small village in Rwanda providing pineapple seeds for a local growing project, teaching better farming practices and enabling the village to become a model for others to follow. As they stated to me, they affirm the work of CIDA and sincerely hope that CIDA will continue to have an emphasis on food security, particularly for supporting smallholder farmers.

I thank the Taekemas for taking the time to share this success story with me and congratulate the Canadian Foodgrains Bank program for the valuable work that it does internationally.

[Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012, February 27th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's comments and her support for this bill at second reading.

One of the changes that was made in part 5 of the bill deals with section 116. It was a change that was made in the 2010 budget, which I supported very strongly at the time, and still do, dealing with taxable Canadian property. The amendment at that time was a measure in that budget to exclude from its ambit shares of corporations and certain other interests that do not derive their value principally from “real or immoveable property situated in Canada, a Canadian resource property or a timber resource property”, subject to a 60-month look-back rule.

I know the member represents an area that deals with a lot of resources. I would ask her to comment on this change that was made in the 2010 budget and her impressions of whether it has had a positive impact thus far in Canada.

[Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012, February 27th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague on the other side of the House. She mentioned in her speech how the Auditor General has called for these changes. She spoke about the Certified General Accountants of Canada who have called for the bill, have welcomed it, applauded it and in fact endorsed it. I am glad members on the other side are listening to that advice and will be supporting the legislation.

I just want to clarify this for the purpose of debate. The bill was tabled in November. The minister and the department offered in-depth briefings to any member of the House with respect to any section of the bill. In fact, the committee will be starting a pre-study on the bill tomorrow morning. We would love to have the bill passed by this chamber. Perhaps the member would comment as to why, when the NDP is supporting the bill, it is putting up so many speakers here rather than allowing the bill to be sent to committee.

Second, she says it does not contain all of the amendments that it should contain. Could she deposit with the House or with the committee what specific amendments the bill should be addressing? Perhaps she could address in her answer today what, specifically, should be in the bill that is not in the bill.

[Committees of the House, February 11th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fifteenth report of the Standing Committee on Finance pertaining to its study of tax incentives for charitable giving.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109 of the House of Commons, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.

I would like to thank all members of the committee for their work on this report, as well as the analysts, clerks and all other committee staff who made the report possible.

[Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act, January 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to discretion, the minister pointed out in response to an earlier question by a member that the minister currently has positive discretion and, therefore, the question is why the minister should not exercise negative discretion.

Also, there are public policy criteria, which I know the member opposite will know well, that the minister would use, if this legislation passes, in applying that negative discretion. I reviewed the criteria with the minister directly and I think those criteria are sufficient for guiding this minister or any future minister with respect to the use of that negative discretion.

[Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act, January 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I know the minister and others will want to address the member opposite's question in substance as well.

With respect to this issue, however, I refer back to the point that someone has to be convicted of an offence in Canada and that conviction has to exceed the six-month demarcation. That is the standard that would be used in this legislation, only to the extent that it would affect the appeal process beyond that. So they have gone through the legal system in Canada and I believe that six-month demarcation period would be sufficient for the measures that are in this legislation, which then would restrict the appeal process beyond that.

[Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act, January 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it is obviously a legitimate debate. In my view, the six-month penal sentence is an appropriate time period.

Going back to what the minister said earlier in debate, these are people who are actually convicted of a serious crime. These are people who go through the Canadian legal system, have the presumption of innocence and proceed through the legal system, as other Canadians would, and are convicted at the end of that. The six-month demarcation, in my view, is an appropriate time limit to establish. Beyond that is a serious penal offence that would require the measures that are proposed in this piece of legislation.

[Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act, January 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to this debate today on Bill C-43, the faster removal of foreign criminals act.

I do want to acknowledge, at the outset, the work done by all members of the parliamentary committee on citizenship and immigration in reviewing this bill in detail, clause by clause.

I also want to acknowledge the tremendous work of two individuals, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism and the parliamentary secretary, for leading, in my view, what was perhaps the broadest reform of the immigration system in Canada in a positive way and also for their very active participation in this debate, both showing their respect for Parliament. I genuinely appreciate that, and I think all members of the House do as well.

Bill C-43, if implemented, would not only be an important contribution to safeguarding the integrity and security of our immigration system, but it would also enhance the safety and security of all Canadians.

The measures in the bill would close the loopholes that currently allow individuals found inadmissible to Canada to remain in this country long after they have worn out their welcome. These tough but fair measures would ensure that serious foreign criminals would not be allowed to endlessly abuse Canadians' generosity.

There are, unfortunately, countless examples of convicted criminals who have used the endless appeals currently available to delay their deportation for years. I will refresh the memory of this House with respect to one example: the case of Joselito Rabaya Arganda, who came to Canada from the Philippines in 1995.

Arganda was sentenced to two years in prison, in 2007, for a wide variety of crimes, among them forgery, credit card fraud, possession of counterfeit money and possession of goods obtained by crime. These are very serious crimes. In fact, in this example with respect to identity theft and financial crime, this Parliament has taken some action to deal with these crimes because they are as serious as any other type of crimes. These are, in fact, not victimless crimes. People suffered and paid dearly because of Mr. Arganda's crimes.

I would also like to make note that Mr. Arganda's trip to prison was not, unfortunately, a story of rehabilitation and redemption. In fact, it was quite the opposite. When he got out of prison, he returned to his life of crime. He was sentenced again in 2009 for possession of property obtained by crime and for failing to comply with court orders. The following year, he was sentenced for possession of a weapon.

Perhaps the critics of this legislation and those who oppose this legislation need to pause for a moment and ask themselves what that weapon was intended to be used for or for whom it was intended.

Arganda is not just a dangerous foreign criminal but a repeat dangerous foreign criminal, someone whom I suspect anyone of any political stripe on either side of this House would like to see deported immediately and accordingly.

On May 10, 2010, the Immigration and Refugee Board issued a removal order. Under the existing rules, Arganda had no right to appeal because individuals sentenced to two years or more are not eligible to appeal their deportation.

However, this individual managed to find a unique way to get around this. He got the Manitoba Court of Appeal to grant him permission to appeal the previous two-year criminal sentence he received—a sentence he had already served.

To relay what happened next, let me quote from Winnipeg Sun columnist Tom Brodbeck:

If he could get it reduced to two-years-less-a-day retroactively, he would have the right to appeal his deportation. But what court would do that?...That's exactly what...the Manitoba Court of Appeal did.... They reduced the guy's sentence by one day so he could appeal his deportation, even though he had already finished serving his sentence. Madness.

It is time to close these loopholes, stand up for Canadian families and Canadian communities and not stand with dangerous foreign criminals.

I sincerely do not believe that anyone can listen to the details of this case, and others, and not conclude that it is an assault on our immigration system.

Worse yet, it sends a message to the Canadian families we all stand here and represent: that there are two tiers of justice and that dangerous foreign criminals have the lenient end of it.

Perhaps the opposition should carefully consider this legislation. I know it has done so at committee, but it should consider it again and support this bill at report stage and again at third reading.

Under Bill C-43, convicted serious foreign criminals, like the individual mentioned, who were given a sentence of more than six months, as well as those who have committed serious crimes outside Canada, would no longer be able to appeal their deportation before the Immigration Appeal Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board. This change would help expedite the removal of serious foreign criminals from Canada.

Canadians rightly expect a fair immigration system that is not open to abuse. Bill C-43 contains other measures that would help do exactly that.

For example, foreign nationals who are inadmissible on particularly serious grounds—war crimes, for example—would be barred from accessing a program that is meant for exceptional cases deserving humanitarian and compassionate consideration. This would ensure that Canada is not a safe haven for these dangerous criminals. In fact, in many ways the measures we are debating here today are no-brainers that are long overdue and would close long-standing loopholes in the immigration system. Canadians should never have to be endangered by a dangerous foreign criminal who has exploited our system.

Newspaper columnist Lorne Gunter captured this perfectly when he wrote, several months ago, that Bill C-43 “...is so sensible it will probably surprise most Canadians that the new policy is not already the law of the land”. In that spirit, I urge all colleagues to support these sensible measures and ensure that Bill C-43 passes into law.

[Committees of the House, December 12th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 14th report of the Standing Committee on Finance in relation to the 2012 pre-budget consultations.

On behalf of all committee members, I thank the dedicated committee staff for their hard work, contribution, support and collaboration during the study. They are: our two clerks, Jean-François Lafleur and Suzie Cadieux; our analysts, Mark Mahabir, Daniel Benatuil, Brett Stuckey, Marc LeBlanc, Adrian Young and, of course, the indomitable June Dwering; and our administrative support, Chantale Gililant and Sebastian Morrow. On behalf of the entire committee, I thank them for all their hard work.