Xavier Barsalou-Duval

[Foreign Investment, June 10th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the contradictions keep piling up in the Quebec National Assembly about the possible anomalies in the sale of RONA.

In April, I asked the Minister of Economic Development to put the deal on hold until there was more information about this sale. However, the minister rushed to give his approval just hours after the Competition Bureau did.

So as not to muzzle scientists, the Prime Minister promised that all studies would be made public.

Will this government promise to disclose the studies that led it to the conclusion that the sale of RONA was good for the country?

[Rail Transportation, June 3rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, people have been worried ever since what happened in Lac-Mégantic.

During the election campaign, Sécurité ferroviaire Rive-Sud launched a petition calling for the end of oil transportation between Saint-Lambert and Sorel until the train tracks are moved. The petition was signed by thousands of people, including myself, the Green candidate, and the Liberal candidate.

We learned that the petition was very quietly presented in the House by the Liberal member for Montarville on April 19. There has been radio silence ever since.

Will the Liberals keep their promise or will we have to wait until Quebec becomes sovereign?

[Income Tax Act, May 19th, 2016]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-275, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (business transfer).

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House to introduce a bill seconded by my colleague from Manicouagan. The purpose of the bill is to amend the Income Tax Act with respect to business transfers. As we all know, the population in Canada and Quebec is aging. As a result, there are certain needs regarding the transfer of businesses that are becoming increasingly urgent and important. Unfortunately, under the existing rules, there is a certain tax unfairness that makes it disadvantageous in some cases for people to transfer a business to their children or other family members. The purpose of this bill is to amend the act, specifically section 84(1), to include the children and grandchildren of shareholders, so that they are not put at a disadvantage when family businesses are transferred.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Transfer of Family Businesses, May 18th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, for the past few months, we have been trying to convince the government to end a form of tax unfairness. There is a capital gains exemption of $800,000 on the sale of shares, which is a difference of $200,000 after taxes. However, people cannot take advantage of that if they sell their business to a family member. That is a major obstacle to transferring family-owned businesses.

We started from scratch on this. We sent a letter to the Minister of Finance. We asked questions in the House, but the government remained silent, so we got in touch with the media and asked the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec to speak out. Yesterday, the second opposition party followed our lead by placing its own bill on the same subject as ours on the Order Paper.

I am delighted about that. I hope that we can break down partisan barriers and work together.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 1, May 10th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, since I have just four minutes, I will try to be brief.

I want to start by saying that the Bloc Québécois will not support Bill C-15. This is probably not a surprise to the government, since we have already expressed our opposition to the bill for many reasons, which I will try to summarize.

Before I talk about the negatives, I do want to mention that the budget does have some positive points. For example, the money invested in infrastructure is positive, but we still do not know how the investments will be made. Will an agreement be signed with the Government of Quebec, and will it be signed fast enough for the Government of Quebec and businesses to benefit? We have some serious questions about this.

Another measure I want to highlight is the return of tax credits for labour-sponsored funds. This savings tool is very important and worthwhile for middle-class Quebeckers.

There is also the universal child care benefit, which will be non-taxable from now on. The government is also combining all of the old benefits because they were so confusing. That is very positive. Unfortunately, however, they did not take the opportunity to eliminate the taxation of enhanced benefits imposed by the Conservatives. That could have been done.

I also want to mention the middle-class tax cut, which is not actually going to help the real middle class, just the upper middle class. Those are the people who are doing relatively well financially but who might run into a few financial troubles. They are not the richest segment of the population, so cutting their taxes is not a bad thing, but the government did not cut taxes for the right people.

There are some things that we strongly condemn, such as the fact that health transfers to the Government of Quebec and the provinces will be indexed at just 3% per year even though we all know that health care costs go up by 5% to 6% per year. That represents an $800-million shortfall for the Government of Quebec, and once again, the federal government will benefit from that shortfall.

We could also talk about the changes, and the lack of changes, to the employment insurance fund. We have been fighting for over 20 years to get the government to stop dipping into the EI surplus. Yet again, however, it plans to take $1.7 billion from the EI fund for the 2014-15 fiscal year.

Using money that belongs to workers to top up the government's coffers is unacceptable, especially given that not everyone pays into the program. After a certain income level, people no longer contribute. Money that belongs to the workers should serve the workers.

There is one piece of good news regarding employment insurance: new measures will increase the potential number of weeks of benefits to 20 in certain regions that have seen a huge increase in unemployment numbers. However, the problem lies in the regions that were chosen. According to our information, the regions chosen are in the Northwest Territories, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland, and Nunavut.

I am not sure if my colleagues noticed, but Quebec was not included in that list. This is because the unemployment rate was already quite high in Quebec and it did not go up as much as in some other areas. Quebeckers are suffering just as much as everyone else, but they will not benefit from those improvements to EI.

[Small Business, May 10th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec and its 60,000 businesses are asking the government to do something about the unfair tax treatment that penalizes those who sell their businesses to family members rather than strangers.

Our business people are sick and tired of Ottawa making life difficult for small and medium-sized Quebec businesses. Quebec has already solved this problem. If Quebec were independent, this problem would no longer exist.

My question is as follows: will any of the 40 government members stand up to fix this problem for our business people?

[Taxation, May 2nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, more than 26,000 Quebeckers, including Christian Tremblay, in my riding, will be penalized for selling their businesses to family, because Ottawa does not allow them a deduction for capital gains. Quebec does allow this deduction.

Instead of using Quebec as a model, the government claims that the system is working and that the situation is fair. That is what we hear from the member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain.

When will a Liberal from Quebec stand up for Quebec businesses?

[Economic Development, April 22nd, 2016]

Madam Speaker, Quebec's entrepreneurial legacy is in jeopardy.

Federal law makes it more lucrative to sell one's business to a stranger than a family member. The difference can be equivalent to the price of a luxury home. That is unacceptable. The Government of Quebec has called for change.

Last week, I sent a letter to the minister. This morning, the president of CGI Group made a heartfelt plea. When will the federal government stop being indifferent towards Quebec companies?

[Montreal Canadiens, March 21st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, on March 30, we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Montreal Canadiens' first Stanley Cup win. I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep admiration for the team and everything it has done to help lead Quebec toward emancipation.

One hundred years ago, francophones were vigorously oppressed both politically and economically. That oppression still rears its head today, but it is different. The Habs gave Quebec francophones a team of their own, and the team enabled many Quebeckers to rise above their circumstances and display their great talent. That is how they created the legend of the blue, white, and red.

With a record 24 Stanley Cup wins, the Habs have been an inspiration to the Quebec nation, and their success belongs to all Quebeckers.

[Air Canada, March 11th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we have just learned that the FTQ has filed a request for an injunction in the Quebec Superior Court to force Air Canada to comply with the law. Two rulings have already been handed down in favour of the Government of Quebec.

The law is clear. Will the Minister of Transport keep the promise he made to Aveos workers in the past?