Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1  Madam Speaker, it is another year, another budget, and another set of broken promises rolled up into Bill C-44, the budget implementation act. There is, I suppose, a certain irony that the government, which claims to be opposed to omnibus bills, would bring in this massive document that touches on so many areas, rather than separate legislation for its new ventures, such as the infrastructure bank.

National Defence  Madam Speaker, as a former police officer and a soldier, the Minister of National Defence served Canada in an exemplary fashion. Now as a Liberal minister, he has been caught misrepresenting his service to impress an audience. Can the minister tell Canadians why he felt it was so necessary to abandon the truth about his role in Afghanistan?

Questions on the Order Paper  With regard to the commitment on Page 80 of the Liberal Party’s election platform related to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and the “tax gap”: (a) what is the current tax gap level in Canada; (b) when will the CRA be publically releasing the full statistics relating to the annual tax evasion and the tax gap levels; (c) has the CRA provided the Parliamentary Budget Officer with the information required so that he can do an analysis on tax gap levels and, if so, on what date was the information provided; and (d) does the government have any annual goals or timelines for reducing the tax gap levels and, if so, what are the goals for each of the next five years?

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, bad memories or good memories, the one thing the government needs to remember, the one lesson in economics 101, is not to borrow money one cannot pay back. Do not spend what one does not have, and look after Canadians before looking outside Canada. That is the best recipe to control spending and balance budgets and to keep the economy in the right place at the right time.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, again, I will go back to economics 101. We need to lower taxes on the job creators. That is exactly what happened. That is not only on large businesses but also on small businesses. We are the pro-small-business party. That is what we believe in. I am a small business owner.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, last fall I travelled with the Standing Committee on Finance across the country as part of the pre-budget consultations. We heard from academics and business leaders, from farmers and trade unions, and from students and senior citizens. One thing they had in common was a concern about the direction of Canada's finances.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, it is tax time again in Canada. Millions of people are filling out forms and discovering just how much they owe the federal government or just how much the government owes them. They are looking back at 2016 but, in this House, we are looking at the 2017 taxation year, and it is not pretty.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, there is no one in this House who would want any money to be lost, caused by our taxation system and the way we do things. As I said earlier, when people negotiate in business, they get what they negotiate. People do not always get what they deserve, they get what they negotiate in life.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, if the government is suggesting a restructuring of the taxation system in Canada, it is welcome to do that. It is in power and can probably deal with it, if it has something to come forward with. Why is the government only agreeing with the motion in principle? I am not sure if this is a signal that government members will be coming forward and proposing amendments to the motion.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, no one stands more firmly against tax evasion than the Conservative Party of Canada. We believe all taxpayers should pay what they owe in taxes, and there should be no special treatment. The Conservative Party believes in keeping taxes low for all Canadians, but we also believe in ensuring that all corporations and individuals pay their fair share of tax.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the motion called for, “ending penalty-free amnesty deals for individuals suspected of tax evasion”. Will the government support this part of the motion or not?

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the motion calls for renegotiating tax treaties. Would the hon. member be able to tell us which treaties he is referring to in the motion?

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, there is a $7-billion figure in the member's proposal. Can he provide some backup on that figure?

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the government claims it is borrowing and spending that money to put toward helping seniors and others, yet it does not have any idea how to pay it back. Also, is the hon. member aware of the final report last week on the non-revenue neutral carbon tax in British Columbia?

Canada Revenue Agency  Madam Speaker, Canadians expect all taxpayers to pay what they owe. They do not want anyone to give them preferential treatment. Could the Minister of National Revenue explain why, after allocating $444 million to combat offshore tax evasion, we are told that her department is failing to collect $50 billion each year.