Ted Menzies

[Flood Relief in Alberta, October 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, none of us could have foreseen the floods that directly impacted many of my constituents this past June. It was a very difficult time that made many of us re-evaluate our priorities and indeed our lives.

Though many people experienced tremendous loss, it was also a time in which I saw an outpouring of compassion and kindness of people from near and far to those in need.

In the aftermath, I had the privilege of joining many Albertans who volunteered to lend a hand in High River, Black Diamond, Bragg Creek, and surrounding areas.

I am so honoured to have witnessed and worked alongside residents, emergency responders, and all those who demonstrated true Canadian grit, determination, bravery, and community spirit during and after the flooding.

I have been involved with flood mitigation planning since June, and it is clear that recovery will be a very slow process. We must continue to work toward practical solutions for those affected as we follow the recovery.

Once again, I extend my utmost gratitude to the volunteers who gave their time and support to all affected families. It was greatly appreciated.

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act No. 2, October 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with great intent to the speech that my hon. colleague from Newfoundland just presented. She spent quite a bit of time talking about EI premiums. There is always a discussion among Canadians as to whether it was actually $57 billion or $58 billion that the previous Liberal government took out of the EI fund when it was in power.

I wonder if she could clarify that number. Was it $58 billion or $57 billion? I am confused.

[Pensions, June 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I will repeat. It takes consensus among the provinces, the federal government and the finance ministers from those jurisdictions to move forward with any changes to the Canada pension plan. There was no consensus to move forward in the last three meetings that we have had. We continue to look at the Canada pension plan, to look at the economic indicators that might provide us with the opportunity to do that.

The provinces have agreed that we should move forward with the pooled registered pension plans to provide a pension for those 60% of Canadians who are in the workforce and who do not have a pension plan now.

[Pensions, June 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, we continue to meet with our provincial counterparts because we share the jurisdiction on the Canada pension plan with them.

That hon. member should understand that the last three times that we met with the provincial finance ministers there was no consensus among those ministers to move forward with any expansion of the Canada pension plan. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business actually encouraged us not to move forward with expanding the Canada pension plan but to move forward with pooled registered pension plans, and that is what we have done.

[Charitable Organizations, June 14th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, while the Liberal leader takes money from cash-strapped charities while he is being paid an MP's salary, we find that to be very repugnant.

On this side of the House, we are actually putting forward measures that will help charities gain more money. We put forward the donation super credit, and guess what happened. The leader of the Liberal Party actually voted against it. He takes money from charities and votes against new plans to help charities gain more money.

[Tackling Contraband Tobacco Act, June 13th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I found it most interesting, listening to this member speak on this particular subject.

As far as all caucus members on this side know, this member knows a lot about this issue. In fact, he has been raising it, time and time again, with all of us in different meetings. I am sure he is very pleased that we are finally moving forward on this.

It is a challenge, and he has shared the challenges in his region of Canada. We all share this; even in my riding of Macleod we face this challenge. I will never forget one evening, walking down one of the main streets here in Ottawa, walking home and seeing the trade in plastic Ziploc bags of contraband tobacco. It was in full sight.

I wonder if the hon. member can provide some of what is in this piece of legislation that would perhaps help us stop this illicit trade in contraband tobacco.

[Tax Conventions Implementation Act, 2013, June 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, with 100 days of debate, I would repeat what I said earlier, for anyone listening to this debate at home.

We have very limited time to actually sit in this House or in the other chamber and debate substantive issues. One hundred days is a big chunk of our parliamentary calendar. We think it is appropriate that we now move forward and get this bill to the next stage. It is very important and critical for those countries and for fairness to the taxpayers in all the countries involved.

[Tax Conventions Implementation Act, 2013, June 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, that was a rather mythological sort of question, I would suggest. I am not presuming that my hon. friend across the way would not be precise and concise in his presentation. I have listened to him on many occasions. I listened to him in the leadership debate for his party, and he was very articulate. We encourage him to continue with that. He will have time during this debate to actually bring the concerns of his constituents forward.

Forgive me if I repeat myself, but we have listened to many speeches in this House that are basically a mirror image of the speech that was just presented. I do not think that is a good use of those hon. members' time or of members' time on this side. We actually want to move forward with the protection of the tax system in this country and in the countries we are dealing with in Bill S-17.

[Tax Conventions Implementation Act, 2013, June 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I try not to interfere in individuals' lives, as other individuals in the House might want to do. My advice to Mr. Soudas would be to go back and get the raise due to him, because he never was chief of staff to the Prime Minister.

What we are talking about are international agreements in which Canada and other countries agree to protect their tax bases. I referred earlier to base erosion and profit shifting. That is the erosion of a tax base. The opposition may not understand that concept. Basically, it is making sure that people and corporations pay their fair share of taxes either in this country or in other countries where they may be doing business. It is no more complex than that.

There are about 30 pieces of legislation. We have many of these agreements in place, and we continue to put them together to protect our tax base. Not only that, but some of the countries we are dealing with today I would suggest are still developing countries, so we want to help them protect their tax bases. It is very important, not just for us but for them, that we move forward on something these countries have both agreed to for the benefit of their taxpayers and ours.

[Tax Conventions Implementation Act, 2013, June 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the hon. member that the motion says that there are five hours more of debate. I would think that if the discussions are precise, pointed and accurate, without members elaborating as the preceding member did, we could perhaps hear those comments. I would encourage the hon. member to come prepared to have a very specific debate.

There was a question before about the introduction of these pieces of legislation. Traditionally, these treaties are introduced in the Senate. There is time in the Senate for those proceedings. The House is a very busy place. The Senate has time to review them and to provide the background information. It came from the Senate, and it is time we moved it forward.