Finance committee  Once you get the phone call, the next thing you do is probably to go and get a rope and hang yourself.” There really are some very clear stories about how it happens. I know that Finance and CRA know very well how people get into trouble. A voluntary disclosure program is an amnesty of sorts, isn't it? You can come out and you can negotiate a deal, and you don't have to pay 200% interest.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Then you mentioned financial interests, which I find very interesting: you say that some of the views of the committee witnesses really may have been as a result of some financial interests. Never was that more clear, for me anyway, than when Canadian North was here to say that they are not able to get contracts under the old food mail program and that First Air almost has a monopoly in their area.

Finance committee  Some of them have already published the October 31, 2010, report and I am presuming that both the Department of Finance and the Revenue Agency have these reports. One thing is clear, we have all of the reports for October 31, 2009. I find it strange that you are saying we do not know what these figures are. For example, on page 133 in the Scotiabank annual report, it says that there were 10 tax havens and that resulted in a Canadian tax savings of $325 million.

Environment committee  In terms of the bill before us, the Conseil patronal de l'environnement du Québec was very clear: there are no benchmarks. Quite the opposite, it is a free-for-all. The lack of benchmarks creates a climate of constant uncertainty. Is that what we want for Quebec companies? It creates an climate of constant uncertainty for hydroelectric development.

Finance committee  This branch manages the trust fund and pretends that it cannot have any access to the information held by its own branch. This much is clear: this is a branch of a Canadian bank, owned 100% by the Canadian bank. It has this information, but it says that it cannot disclose the information that comes from its branch in Ireland.

Public Safety committee  As far as I'm concerned, it is quite clear that we don't need this bill. Since the legislation has not been in effect, conspiracies have been discovered, charges have been laid, and convictions have been secured. We don't need it.

International Trade committee  Julian mentioned earlier, the amendment we are proposing is along the same lines as the motion he put forward. It is very clear to us that the exchange of tax information should be compliant with the OECD agreement or model agreement. It is crucial that Panama and Canada sign such an agreement in order to remove a rather large obstacle, stemming from the fact that we are signing a free-trade agreement without first having a tax information exchange agreement, which would prevent a loss of tax revenue for Canada.

Public Safety committee  In the meantime, it is going to interfere with people who will find out that it's better not to have an opinion on anything. You'll be safer. You'll steer clear of everything if you have no opinion. Having an opinion can only get you in trouble. How is fostering that culture in Canadian society consistent with the values you want to promote in a free and democratic society?

International Trade committee  I think that's clear. This would be two clauses, following the clause as currently in the bill as printed, to add consulting experts and reports to the House. Is there any further discussion on that clause?

Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) committee  And that's the problem with fair dealing, that it's not spelled out. We would have to go before the courts to get a clear definition of that.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The adoption groups didn't realize that Bill C-37 impacted on them. In fact, some of us are not clear that it did, because we didn't put two and two together. We didn't put Bill C-14 together with Bill C-37. We didn't realize that Bill C-37 actually had an impact on adopted kids because of Bill C-14.

International Trade committee  Thank you. If everyone is clear on that, I'll call the question. (Amendment negatived) (Clauses 7 to 9 inclusive agreed to on division) (On clause 10--Canadian representative on Joint Commission)

Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) committee  Whatever you could give us would help. Ultimately it's going to be nice for us to have a clear idea of what the education exemption means. Certainly, if the Supreme Court's six criteria are going to be the basis on which fair or unfair dealing is determined, it helps to have a definition of what is meant by education.

Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) committee  It's against the law now and it will be against the law once Bill C-32 is passed. I just want to make that clear. I want to move on to some of the exciting things that I think Bill C-32 will do. I see Bill C-32 as allowing education to really roll into the classroom some of the latest technology.

Environment committee  They then determined that yes, indeed you can, and they made the decision that they would make it clear in all environmental law thereafter that those laws are binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada, and that's why it's precisely stated. It simply means that you can bring an action and the Government of Canada is bound by the provisions of that statute.