Jean-Pierre Blackburn

[Agri-food Industry, April 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, again, the important thing here is that consumers have something to go on when they see the product on the shelves in front of them. There is nothing to stop a company from putting that the product is made from products that come from Quebec or Ontario that have been processed here in Canada. The rule at present is 98%. We are listening to the processors. We are talking with them. We will then see whether things need to be improved. For the moment, we are in a process. That is the way we are going to go for the moment, and 98% of the content is the percentage for a Canadian product.

[Agri-food Industry, April 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, what is the principle behind all this? We want consumers to be able to tell whether something is a product of Canada or not, whether it is a product processed in Canada or not.

With that in mind, we consulted stakeholders and arrived at the 98% rule for saying that something is a product of Canada. If it is processed in Canada, the processor can certainly say, for example, that the product comes from whatever region and was processed here in Canada. That gives the public something to go on. That being said, we are open to ideas. If something needs to be corrected, we will see, but for the moment we are going with this.

[Canada Revenue Agency, April 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Revenue always takes the situation of taxpayers who are faced with problems very seriously. That is why there are appeal processes and courts are able to respond when someone feels he has been treated unfairly or when something does not go as he believes it should.

In this case, Mr. Leroux has appeal to the court for a ruling, and we will let the court do its job.

[Canada Revenue Agency, April 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Leroux's case goes back nearly 13 years. Moreover, he has filed an application with the court. Under the circumstances, we must leave it up to the court to do what is necessary to respond to Mr. Leroux's application.

[Government Spending, April 22nd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it is always surprising to hear that kind of question from a member. What is the department's name? Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec. This means that the minister's responsibility is to travel to the regions of Quebec. A person cannot travel in a single day to Gaspé, the Magdalen Islands, Havre-Saint-Pierre and Sept-Îles without taking charter flights, which are always in small aircraft.

People in the regions are entitled to see the minister. They are entitled to talk to him and they are also entitled to know the great things that are being announced for their region.

[Agri-food Industry, April 22nd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the various stakeholders in the processing field were consulted. We also wanted to protect consumers by ensuring that they are able to know whether a product is a Canadian product or a product processed in Canada. For example, if a product has a Canadian content of under 98%, a company can indicate that it is made with Quebec blueberries and was processed here. Moreover, we are listening to the processors and if we perceive along the way that the intended goal has not been achieved, it will always be possible—

[Questions on the Order Paper, April 20th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the response is as follows: a) The confidentiality provisions of the acts administered by the Canada Revenue Agency, CRA, do not permit it to provide details of cases that it may or may not be reviewing or the sources of its information. However, the CRA can advise that as a matter of policy and practice it does not pay for informant information.

b) For the reason stated in part a), the CRA cannot comment on accounts held with a particular financial institution with such particularity. However, based on information provided to the CRA, over 100 individuals have been identified as being residents of Canada and having assets in the Principality of Liechtenstein.

c) The role of the CRA is to ensure that all taxes are paid in full. The voluntary disclosures program, VDP, promotes compliance by encouraging taxpayers to voluntarily correct previous omissions in their dealings with the CRA. A requirement of the VDP is that taxpayers must make a full disclosure before the CRA commences any compliance action or investigation. If they do so, they may only have to pay the taxes owing, plus interest, but not face penalties or prosecution in the courts.

As compliance action has been commenced on all of the listed taxpayers, they are no longer eligible for consideration under the VDP.

d) n/a

e) n/a

f) None.

g) For the reason stated in part a), the CRA cannot comment on accounts held with a particular financial institution with such particularity. However, based on information provided to the CRA, over 100 individuals have been identified as being residents of Canada and having assets in the Principality of Liechtenstein. Compliance action is either ongoing or has been completed on all individuals.

h) For the reason stated in part a), the CRA cannot comment on accounts held with a particular financial institution with such particularity. No Canadian taxpayers included in the group of over 100 individuals identified as being residents of Canada and having assets in the Principality of Liechtenstein have been charged with tax evasion.

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, April 20th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, as I recently told the member, we made an election promise to invest $50 million to support slaughterhouses. We have kept that promise. The $50 million is in the budget. We have started looking closely at the regulations, and things are moving ahead very quickly. I have had the opportunity to meet with representatives of Levinoff-Colbex, and they know that things are very close.

I again ask the member to be patient. He will see that we have a very attractive program to support slaughterhouses.

[Forestry Industry, April 20th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, Export Development Canada has granted over $14 billion in various loan guarantees over the past year. Again this year we are adding $5 billion to support all stakeholders.

What can we do in terms of loan guarantees? Yes, we can grant loan guarantees, but it must not give Canadian industries an advantage, since that would compromise the agreement. We must try to find other avenues of assistance. However, we must not compromise the agreement, which the industry is asking us to protect at all costs.

[Forestry Industry, April 20th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I attended that meeting of all the socio-economic stakeholders. The hon. member forgot to mention that. That is what he tried to do. They tried all afternoon to get the government to grant loan guarantees without any concern about respecting the softwood lumber agreement.

At the end of the meeting, all the stakeholders concluded that the government must try to help the forestry sector while respecting the softwood lumber agreement.