House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 64% of the vote.
Ethics December 4th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, once again, the member refers to a private dispute between two parties that has been before the courts. Obviously we are not going to comment on that. The individual in question is chairman of the mint and this government's record in closing tax loopholes is without precedent.
Ethics December 4th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, it is, of course, the responsibility of all employees to follow the applicable rules.
Retained records are retained by the bureaucracy. When the bureaucracy realized that it had this information, it made this information available to the RCMP, and the official responsible answered thorough questions for that yesterday at committee.
Ethics December 4th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Perrin left my office of his own accord some nine months ago.
The Environment November 27th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, first I want to congratulate the Minister of International Development and others for their swift response to the effort in the Philippines. I think the Canadian response has been appreciated by our Filipino friends all across the country and of course by the Government of the Philippines as well.
On the matter of international climate change, obviously we continue to favour an international treaty that would have binding obligations upon all emitters. The Kyoto accord had binding obligations upon less than one-third of emissions, which is why it was not an effective instrument.
We will continue to work with the international community in the hope of developing an effective instrument.
Ethics November 27th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party leader's statements are false. The RCMP did not say that. It said that two individuals are under investigation for an inappropriate payment. We are co-operating with this investigation, and we have taken appropriate action against these individuals.
Ethics November 27th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, once again, not only have I said that I did not know about this particular transaction, but as soon as I became aware, we made sure that it was reported publicly. We have also made sure that all investigators have received the relevant information. That is why these two individuals are under investigation, as they should be, and we will continue to assist.
Ethics November 27th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I simply point out what the real issue here is. The real issue is that Senator Duffy made inappropriate expense claims and claimed publicly that he had repaid them, when he knew that was not the case. It was in fact Mr. Wright who repaid them, and Mr. Wright and Mr. Duffy did not properly disclose this transaction. When we became aware of that, we made sure that it was reported publicly.
We have taken the appropriate action, and it is those two individuals who are under investigation for this particular affair.
Taxation November 27th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, as I just said, under this government, the Canada Revenue Agency has identified over $4.5 billion recoverable to the taxpayers of Canada.
Every single year, we bring forward in the House areas where we have identified the possibility of inappropriate tax avoidance and tax evasion to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars a year. That is the real reason the NDP votes against those measures every single year.
Taxation November 27th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, what the hon. member is referring to is, of course, a dispute between two private parties before a court. I am obviously not going to comment on that.
What I am going to point out is the record of the government when it comes to combatting offshore tax evasion and tax cheats. Since this party came to office, we have identified over $4.5 billion of such funds that are recoverable by the Government of Canada.
Ethics November 27th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, it was Mr. Duffy who made claims about having repaid inappropriate expenses. Those claims were completely untrue. The fact of the matter was that Mr. Wright had paid those expenses on his behalf. As those two individuals did not properly disclose that information, they are the ones responsible. That is why they are under investigation and why we have taken the appropriate actions.