John McCallum

[Taxation, February 12th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has answered only one question on the budget, and he barely answered that. I wonder if he would not mind standing in his place and explaining to the House what his position is on income splitting.

[The Budget, February 10th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, in last year's budget, the Conservatives imposed tariffs that raised the cost of everything, from wigs for cancer patients to baby carriages. They also introduced a bogus job training program that went nowhere, because the provinces were being treated unfairly.

Will the government fix those two mistakes in tomorrow's budget?

[Petitions, February 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition on behalf of a good number of constituents in support of Rouge national park, and in particular the proposition that the park be substantially larger than the plan that the government has put forward.

[The Budget, February 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the International Monetary Fund has warned us that Canadians should expect to see little economic growth. Young Canadians have 264,000 fewer jobs than before the recession. The economic recovery does not apply to young people. An empty budget will not solve the problem.

Will the government finally include a jobs plan for young Canadians in next week's budget?

[Citizenship and Immigration, January 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, processing times for visitor visas have tripled since the Conservative government came to power. That means red tape instead of little red envelopes at this time of Chinese New Year.

New Year is a time for family, yet our outdated bureaucratic visa system means that many families will not get to see their relatives during this holiday season.

Will the minister commit to fix this broken system?

[Business of Supply, December 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to clarify one point. I think the hon. member referred to us as, in some sense, substituting the voluntary CPP for the real one. I would remind her that it was the Liberal government, under Lester Pearson, that brought in the CPP in the first place. It was Paul Martin who fixed it and made it sustainable. We are more committed than, or at least as committed as, any other party to the long-run sustainability of the existing Canada pension plan and we are open to moderate increases in the size of it over time.

Regarding the supplemental Canada pension plan, we want to consider that as an addition, not as an alternative. I made reference to the British experience, where because they have auto-enrolment, even though it is voluntary, over 90% of employees decide to stay in it. It is voluntary, but 90% of the people elect to stay in it.

I would ask if the hon. member understands the long-term commitment of the Liberal Party, our definitive commitment to the existing CPP, and the point that our supplemental CPP, while voluntary, is set up in such a way that many people will choose to participate.

[Business of Supply, December 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I have a question based on two comments by the member for Toronto—Danforth earlier today, both of which were wrong.

First, he said that my colleague, the member for Kings—Hants, said he was opposed to any increase in the size of the CPP. In fact he told me that he was in favour of a gradual increase, which is the same as what I said and the same as what the Liberal platform said in 2011.

Second, he said that the NDP plan was not to double the CPP, at which point I said, “Okay, then we are not so far apart.” However, I subsequently learned that the NDP platform of 2011 said the following:

We will work with the provinces to bring about increases to your Canada/Quebec Pension Plan benefit, with the eventual goal to double the benefits you receive....

There we have it, right in the NDP platform, saying that the eventual goal is to double the benefits people receive. They do not mention premiums, but presumably those would double too.

Why did the hon. member say that it was not the plan to double the CPP when the NDP's own platform says that is the plan?

[Business of Supply, December 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, my question has to do with PRPPs. I do not understand why the hon. member is so keen on them, when The Globe and Mail, in an editorial, just yesterday, asked why we would have yet another voluntary plan, when only one in four Canadians puts one penny into an RRSP. Why would they put more into this? Second, it is a whole lot more costly than the supplementary CPP plan the Liberals have proposed.

If the Liberal plan for supplementary CPP is both a lot cheaper than PRPPs and will get a whole lot more participation through auto-enrolment, why is he favouring PRPPs as opposed to something that is evidently superior with respect to both cost and participation and that does not have any required increase in premiums?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, December 9th, 2013]

With regard to briefing documents prepared for ministers or their staff, from April 1, 2013 to present, what are: (i) the dates, (ii) the titles or subject-matters, (iii) the department’s internal tracking number?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, December 9th, 2013]

With regard to processing times for visa and immigration applications, what is, by year and using the 80% of applications completed benchmark, the average wait time and success rate, including total number of applications received and approved for each processing centre, for: (a) Family Class, specifically (i) spouses and partners, (ii) children and dependents, (iii) parents and grandparents; (b) Permanent Economic Residents, specifically, (i) federal skilled workers, (ii) Quebec skilled workers, (iii) the provincial nominee program, broken down by province, (iv) live-in caregivers, (v) Canadian experience class, (vi) federal business immigrants, (vii) Quebec business immigrants; (c )Temporary Economic Residents, specifically (i) International Students, (ii) Temporary Foreign Workers; (d) Temporary Resident Visas, specifically (i) Temporary Resident Visa, (ii) Work Visa, (iii) ten-year Super Visa?