Joyce Bateman

[Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1, April 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague on the other side of the House needs to understand that our government is focused on job creation, economic growth and long-term prosperity. These are the goals of economic action plan 2014.

[Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1, April 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to discuss the bill on economic action plan 2014. I will be sharing my time with the hon. Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.

It is a great honour for me to speak in favour of the economic action plan and its implementation.

As a chartered accountant, I am very impressed by the contents of the plan and the opportunities it creates for Canada's economy. As a mother, I appreciate that it makes Canadian families a priority, and as the member for Winnipeg South Centre, I am proud of the means it makes available to communities to improve infrastructure and services.

As everyone knows, our Conservative government is working to create jobs, ensure economic growth and secure long-term prosperity for all Canadians—not just our generation, but all future generations.

Our economic action plan 2014 includes numerous measures to promote our country's economic growth. I would like to talk about some of those measures.

For example, we are going to be connecting Canadians with available jobs, training people for jobs that actually exist, and providing new graduates with real opportunities. We are going to have more paid internships for young Canadians, investing $55 million to create paid internships for recent graduates in both small and medium-sized business and high-demand fields. We are going to be supporting job creation and innovation.

We will support job creation, innovation and trade.

Over the next decade, we will invest $1.5 billion in post-secondary research through the Canada first research excellence fund.

We will promote Canadian-made products, develop a “Made in Canada” campaign to promote high-quality Canadian products here and around the world, and work with our partners to reduce internal barriers to trade.

We want to ensure responsible resource development, conserve Canada's natural heritage and invest in infrastructure and transportation, specifically through the conservation of recreational fisheries and further investment in infrastructure.

We want to expand tax relief for health-related items and services, cap wholesale wireless rates to make telecommunications services more affordable, crack down on cross-border price discrimination, and much more.

We will establish a $200-million national disaster mitigation program to help communities prepare for natural disasters.

The economic action plan looks to return to a balanced budget in 2015. As a chartered accountant and the member for Winnipeg South Centre, I am proud to be a member of the government that has made this commitment to taxpayers. Unlike previous governments, we will not do it at just any price. That is a very important point. We respect taxpayers.

For example, major transfers to the provinces for health care, education and other services that Canadians depend on will also continue to increase to record levels. While we are controlling departmental spending, federal support to Canadians, such as seniors' benefits, will continue to grow.

Our Conservative government is squarely focused on what matters to Canadians: job creation, economic growth and Canada's long-term prosperity. With the help of Canada's economic action plan, the Canadian economy has seen the best economic performance among all G7 countries in recent years, both during the global recession and throughout the recovery. In addition, Canada is the only G7 country that has received the highest possible rating—AAA—from all major credit rating agencies.

Canada's net debt-to-GDP ratio is, by far, the lowest in the G7. For the sixth straight year, the World Economic Forum has deemed Canada's banking system to be the most stable in the world.

For example, the International Monetary Fund, the IMF, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the OECD, have both projected that Canada will have among the strongest economic growth among all G7 countries in the years to come. That is a remarkable accomplishment.

Since the end of the recession in July 2009, over one million net new jobs have been created in Canada. Over 85% of them are full-time jobs, and close to 80% are in the private sector.

Unlike the high-tax NDP and Liberals, our Conservative government believes in low taxes and leaving money where it belongs: in the pockets of hard-working Canadian families and job-creating businesses. We are cutting every kind of tax: personal, consumption, business, excise and more. I have many examples of how we are doing that, but I do not think I have time to share them.

It is important that the people of Canada recognize that we are here for all Canadians. We are doing things for young Canadians and older Canadians. For example, the youth employment strategy, the YES program, would help young Canadians get the skills and work experience they need to transition to the workplace. It is an important investment of $330 million per year. To streamline and modernize the Canada student loans program, we are investing $123 million. This is among other previously established initiatives to support our young people.

It is also important to recognize what we have done to help senior citizens. They are the beneficiaries of our historic and landmark creation, the tax-free savings account, TFSA. It has been beneficial to senior citizens, as neither income earned in a TFSA nor withdrawals from a TFSA affect their federal income-tested benefits and credits, such as the guaranteed income supplement.

I am proud of this legislation. I am proud of our economic action plan 2014.

I look forward to taking any questions from my colleagues on this important budget.

[The Economy, March 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, today, KPMG, one of the largest and most respected accounting firms in the world, has ranked Canada as the best place to do business in mature markets.

Thanks to our government's low-tax plan for jobs and growth, Canada has weathered the global economic turbulence better than most other countries.

Our plan is putting more money in the hands of entrepreneurs and businesses, so they can hire more Canadians and expand their operations. It is working, with over one million net new jobs being created since July 2009, with 80% in the private sector.

The opposition has a very different plan, a plan to tax and spend that would hurt our private sector and destroy good jobs for Canadians. They want to impose a $22-billion carbon tax, raise the GST, and raise business taxes, which would sap Canada of our economic strength.

Our government will not allow this to happen. We will continue to lower taxes; we will continue to reduce red tape; and we will promote the Canadian economy around the world.

[Infrastructure, March 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Infrastructure recently announced the largest infrastructure spending program in Canadian history. It provides guaranteed, long-term, stable funding, unlike the Liberal Party leader's policy proposal.

Can the Minister of Infrastructure tell the House about the funds our government has committed to investing, in whole numbers, so as to avoid the Liberals' calculations of thousands and billions, and tell us where that money will be spent?

[Tax Evasion, February 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome this opportunity to clarify the actions being taken by our Conservative government on multiple fronts to combat international tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. It is a track record of which we are very proud.

I would also like to debunk the unfounded assumptions and misconceptions on which Motion No. 485 is based. This is a very complex issue.

I would like to explain exactly why I am against the motion.

This problem is universal. It is certainly not confined to our borders.

The globalization of trade, the free international movement of people and funds and the rapid growth of online business have made international tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance a priority for tax administrations worldwide.

We are not sitting on our hands, and we are not letting tax cheats get away with it. From complex corporate schemes to individuals using sketchy foreign administrations, tax havens or tax shelter strategies to avoid or evade taxes, we will do what needs to be done to protect the integrity and fairness of Canada's tax system.

Anyone looking at the facts can conclude that our government has been very steadfast in its efforts to identify those who attempt to hide their money offshore, people who think it is okay to cheat their neighbours and have them pay their way.

This is fundamentally unfair to the vast majority of honest, hard-working Canadians, who pay their fair share of taxes. They understand that this is how government pays for the important programs all Canadians depend on for our children, for our seniors, and for our health care.

It is illegal not to declare income from Canadian and foreign sources. Failing to declare can result in taxes, penalties and hefty interest charges. Tax evasion can also be punished by fines and prison sentences.

Our government takes tax evasion and deliberate tax avoidance very seriously. Over the past few years, we have instituted significant measures to protect the integrity of the Canadian tax system to ensure that cheats get the message.

For evidence, we need look no further than Canada's economic action plan 2013, which introduced new tools and legislative measures that are strengthening CRA's ability to combat international tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance.

Economic action plan 2013 also established requirements for banks and other financial intermediaries to report electronic transfers.

Commencing in January 2015, they must report international electronic fund transfers of $10,000 or more to the CRA, as they currently must do to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada.

Another measure our government introduced was extending the normal reassessment period with respect to foreign income and property.

We can go back an additional three years for taxpayers who have failed to report income from a specified foreign property on their annual income tax return and failed to properly file their foreign income tax verification statement, form T1135.

That is not all. The CRA is revising form T1135 to require taxpayers to report more detailed information. They now have to indicate the name of the foreign institutions and countries that are holding their assets and the income they earned on those assets.

Another measure that is just as essential to our work is that we are streamlining the legal process whereby the CRA obtains information concerning unnamed persons from third parties, such as banks.

Economic action plan 2013 set aside $30 million in additional funding to equip the CRA with the tools it needs to put these new measures to work. Half of this amount, $15 million, is earmarked to develop and implement the electronic systems the CRA will require to receive reports from banks and other financial intermediaries on international fund transfers. The remaining $15 million is being allocated over the next five years to establish dedicated audit and compliance resources to address offshore non-compliance.

These resources are intended to enhance the CRA's existing internationally focused programs, such as those for international audit, aggressive international tax planning, and offshore tax evasion.

Thanks to these resources, the CRA was able to establish the Offshore Compliance Division. This will guarantee a targeted approach when action plan 2013 measures are implemented to combat international tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance.

The division will require strategic information to detect, select and coordinate high-risk offshore non-compliance cases for auditing. Audits are among the main methods the CRA uses to detect and deter non-compliance.

The division will also implement a framework.

It is actually putting in place a robust accountability framework to report on the progress in identifying and addressing offshore non-compliance.

Although the division is still relatively new, I can assure the House that the CRA continues to make significant inroads in its measures against taxpayers who try to hide their money offshore.

Since 2006, the CRA has audited over 7,700 cases of offshore aggressive tax planning, worth some $4.6 billion in unpaid taxes.

The CRA has also completed compliance actions on roughly 340 audits of high-net-worth groups using sophisticated business structures and offshore arrangements to avoid taxes. This resulted in the identification of more than $195 million in unpaid federal taxes.

What is especially encouraging is that this tough approach has made converts of many people who previously failed to declare their income. Canadians are now taking it upon themselves to come forward, reporting previously undeclared income and paying up what they owe. In fact, the number of voluntary disclosures has increased more than threefold in the past number of years.

Those are the facts, and the facts speak for themselves. Clearly, our efforts are paying off, and we anticipate even better results in the years to come once the Offshore Compliance Division is fully operational.

Just as clearly, we do not need this opposition motion. I urge all the parties in the House to reject it and focus on more urgent matters. I am against the motion.

[Canadian Delegation to Israel, February 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, recently I was honoured to join the Prime Minister on his first official trip to Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan. I was joined by community leaders from my riding of Winnipeg South Centre for this historic trip. That group included members of our community who lead the Arab–Israeli dialogue and who serve local and Israeli universities, business and community leaders, and leaders who fight anti-Semitism.

I admire the principles of our Prime Minister to stand with a country that shares our values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. His historic speech in the Knesset has been showcased and valued by many people from my community.

Being in a Jordanian refugee camp, and at a border crossing from Syria into Jordan when hundreds were fleeing, made me value this government's leadership and Canada's leadership throughout the Middle East.

[The Budget, February 12th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, economic action plan 2014 is based on our government's support for science, technology and innovation, in order to create jobs and economic growth in Canada.

Could the Minister of Science and Technology explain to the House how our government is helping colleges, universities and research institutes to become leaders on the world stage?

[Public Safety, February 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government is committed to keeping our streets and communities safe. We have taken strong action to keep dangerous criminals behind bars, where they belong.

We have passed over 30 bills to do just that and, despite constant objections from the New Democrats and the Liberals, we are seeing great results. The crime rate in Winnipeg is down 13.5% since last year. However, there is still much to do. That is why we will introduce a victims' bill of rights, to return victims to their rightful place at the heart of the justice system.

I call on the opposition to support these important measures for our communities.

[The Economy, December 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to supporting Canada's economy and job growth, our Conservative government is on the right track.

Indeed, since the depth of the global economic recession, Canada's economy has created over one million net new jobs. What is more, Statistics Canada announced just last week that the Canadian economy grew by 2.7% in the third quarter of 2013. That represents the ninth consecutive quarter of economic growth for Canada.

Despite this encouraging news, the global economy remains fragile and now is not the time to engage in risky high-tax schemes. Unfortunately, just last week when asked point blank, the leader of the NDP again committed to raising taxes on Canadian job creators. While the NDP is interested in increasing taxes and killing Canadian jobs, our Conservative government continues to do the opposite. We continue to create jobs and growth, and support Canada's economy.

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act No. 2, December 3rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, certainly in my riding, and I share this with a lot of my colleagues, the backbone of Winnipeg South Centre is all the wonderful families in the area. Many of those families are running small and medium-sized businesses, which are the backbone of job creation for our Canada.

I am so very pleased that we are not only in the process of creating jobs but are in the process, with Bill C-4, of ensuring that those small business entrepreneurs, whether they own a phenomenal Italian grocery store or a Subway, would reduce, with this proposal, their costs of EI. More important, or equally important, the workers at all of their stores and all of their enterprises would pay less for the next three years.

We are ensuring that there will be stability. We are ensuring that there will be the ability for families to spend money on other things too.