Canada Revenue Agency  Madam Speaker, on December 6, I asked the Minister of National Revenue a question regarding the disability tax credit and the infamous memo of May 2. That was the memo that triggered the change to the application process for the disability tax credit. I asked the minister a simple question, whether she approved the memo that went out in her name and that changed the process for applications for the disability tax credit.

Canada Revenue Agency  Madam Speaker, once again, there were no real answers there. The government spent months claiming that it had collected $25 billion from offshore cheaters, which was not true. That was not a correct statement. It was factually dishonest to say that. It took the media calling it out on that to point out that this was, as it put it, a bunch of baloney.

Canada Revenue Agency  Madam Speaker, for months last year, the Prime Minister and the revenue minister patted themselves on the back and made all kinds of claims regarding their attempt to recoup income taxes in particular from tax havens. There were repeated questions from different parties on the opposition benches that challenged them on what was being done to ensure the recovery of money from those who seek to evade taxes in Canada through tax havens.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Madam Speaker, since I only have a couple of minutes, I will cut to the main part of what I was going to discuss. First is a reminder that we are not debating Bill C-45. We are debating something completely different. It was disappointing that so much of the debate seemed to be confused with Bill C-45.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  I was standing. She did not look, but I was standing and ready to go.

Employment Insurance  Madam Speaker, while I always listen to my colleague eagerly when we are having these discussions, at the beginning of her statement she said that she was going to tell us all about the service improvements at the CRA. She certainly had my attention there, and I thought I might hear about some substantial new service improvements that might have addressed some of the issues that I mentioned in my question.

Employment Insurance  Madam Speaker, I rise tonight to again talk about a question that came up last November. In November, I had asked the Minister of National Revenue about her mandate to provide a more client-focused Canada Revenue Agency. I pointed out then that under her watch, her department had reversed or changed the policy on type 1 diabetics to deny the tax credit to many Canadians who had qualified for many years.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, the member for Oshawa makes some excellent points. Importing 700,000 barrels a day at world prices while we are sending oil into the United States at $20 a barrel less than the same oil they are then transferring north is crazy. I hope it might be helpful to some of the members on the other side to hear some of the luminaries from their past, who are Liberals, tell them that they are wrong on energy issues.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, this is an argument usually used by opponents of the industry who say that they are not really totally opposed to the whole industry and shutting it down, but could we not defy the market and build infrastructure to process our product rather than export it raw? If we upgraded bitumen in Alberta, would the member propose the most aggressive expansion of the oil and gas industry in Alberta and the most aggressive possible expansion of the distribution of these fuels?

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, there was a whole lot in that question. I will start with the last point and state that in my riding, what men and women want most is economic security through a job. They feel that their livelihoods are threatened by the government's agenda, in particular in the resource sector.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, I did not get a chance in the limited time we had earlier to answer some of the previous questions. The question about pay equity or the issue of gender equality in the workplace and in pay is surely going to be best addressed through a strong economy. The way this budget simply repeats phrases and adds the word “gender” on every page is going to do nothing to actually make any change that will be meaningful in any way to women in the workplace or achieve anything that will bring economic security to women or men.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in this place, even during difficult times such as today when it is with somewhat of a heavy heart one rises after the tributes we heard on the terrible tragedy in Saskatchewan. It is also sometimes difficult to rise in trying times such as these when so much is at stake for the future of our country, even as we grapple with the ongoing crisis over the Trans Mountain expansion and the implications that a failure of that project would have for all future projects in Canada.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary's response tonight was full of promise and an acknowledgement of the shortcomings identified by the Auditor General. Unfortunately, it contained no evidence that there has been any improvement in service or any fulfillment of the Liberals' campaign promise to treat Canadian taxpayers as valued clients as opposed to merely taxpayers.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise this evening to continue where I left off in November 2017, on my question about the call centre. I asked the minister about the CRA and its notoriously difficult call centre. A scathing report by the Auditor General pointed out that 64% of all calls into the call centre ended with the agency merely hanging up on the taxpayer.

Canada Revenue Agency  Mr. Speaker, it is that time of year; it is tax season. While few Canadians relish the process of filing their taxes, almost all Canadians know it is their responsibility to do so accurately and on time. The problem is that accountants from across Canada say that under the revenue minister, accuracy and timeliness at the CRA have never been worse.