Lisa Raitt

[Taxation, November 8th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the minister did confirm that a full investigation will be undertaken with regard to the people named. She has confirmed it right now.

However, today the Prime Minister publicly interfered with this investigation, stating he would accept Mr. Bronfman's explanation, and considered the matter to be dealt with.

Is this how it works now? A wealthy friend of the Prime Minister, who is hiding millions of dollars offshore, picks up the phone, gives him a call, and the issue goes away.

Could the minister confirm that Stephen Bronfman is not under investigation by the Canada Revenue Agency?

[Taxation, November 8th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, specificity does matter in this case.

The minister promised an independent investigation. However, this morning the Prime Minister defended his good friend and top fundraiser, stating he was satisfied with the assurances he received from Mr. Bronfman. The Prime Minister's political interference on behalf of his close friend is a clear signal to investigators that there is one rule for Liberals and another one for everyone else.

Could the minister confirm that the Prime Minister has pardoned Mr. Bronfman of any wrongdoing?

[Taxation, November 8th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's good friend and head of revenue for the Liberal Party, Stephen Bronfman, was named in the paradise papers. Earlier this week, the revenue minister promised a full investigation into those who were exposed in these documents.

Could the minister confirm to this House that Liberal Party insider Stephen Bronfman is included in this, and is currently under investigation?

[Ethics, November 7th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I am going to use some numbers, so that the government understands the hypocrisy of what it is talking about. As I said, a Liberal bagman stashed $60 million away in a tax-free account in the Cayman Islands. Let us pretend that this $60 million was put into a passive investment account by a small business person here in Canada. That would be a tax bill of $43 million. Why is the Prime Minister allowing his friends to get off on a tax bill of $43 million?

[Ethics, November 7th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and the finance minister took great pains this summer explaining that hard-working fishers, farmers, and small business owners were really not paying their fair share and were in fact tax cheats, all the while we had the Liberal bagman and the Prime Minister's close friends stashing $60 million away in the Cayman Islands tax scheme. My question is very simple. Why is the government so adamant to make life more difficult for honest tax-paying citizens and letting its friends off scot-free?

[Ethics, November 2nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, one thing we can all agree on is that the Minister of Finance needs help in one thing in counting: he better count on getting some better communications advice.

The Prime Minister said this week:

...I am not trying to blame the Ethics Commissioner, I am trying to trust the Ethics Commissioner. That is what opposition members need to do.

That is exactly what we are doing as well. After weeks of misleading and memory lapses, the Government of Canada has shown that it does not trust the Ethics Commissioner, but I think Canadians actually do.

The minister put himself in a direct conflict, and he broke the law when he failed to disclose—

[Ethics, November 2nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, since the finance minister has been exposed for hiding his assets in numerous multi-numbered companies, the Ethics Commissioner has stated that there are up to five other ministers who may be doing exactly the same thing.

There is an unnamed senior government official who has decided to refute these claims, suggesting that the claims are actually wrong and her office is not correct in what it is saying.

I would like to know this. The minister talks about trusting the Ethics Commissioner. Is there a senior government official over there who will actually say that there is no other minister in the same position he put himself in?

[Ethics, November 1st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister indicated earlier that we are just throwing noise at him. Well, I speak on behalf of the parents of those 25,630 children and they want to know exactly what is going on with the finance minister breaking the law. The finance minister's mandate letter from the Prime Minister said, “I expect you to embody these values in your work and observe the highest ethical standards in everything you do.” It is kind of like what we as parents teach our children, but here is the difference. When did the Prime Minister know that the minister broke the law and was not abiding by the—

[Ethics, November 1st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, ironically, I think this is the only time that the Prime Minister is not trying to make something about himself.

For two years, the finance minister led Canadians to believe that his assets were in a blind trust, and that was untrue. For two years, the finance minister has led the House to believe that he complied with the rules of the Ethics Commissioner. That was also untrue. The minister has been fined. The minister broke the law. Is this the higher standard that the Prime Minister says he is holding his ministers to? When will the Prime Minister tell us when he knew that the minister had broken the law?

[Ethics, October 31st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we did this summer when we brought to light the fact that small business owners in Canada were being called tax cheats by this Minister of Finance. For two full years, this minister drove the economic policy that benefited not only his personal wealth but also the wealth of his friends and his family. Who knows how many other policies this minister was part of and implemented directly benefit his holdings. When will the minister quit his game of hide and seek, come clean, and tell the House the contents of numbered companies 1446977 and 2135042?