Finance committee  —expenses study on March 25, 2021 followed by a 30 minute discussion on committee business to study various motions on notice (3 motions from Gabriel Ste-Marie (Routine motions), 1 motion from Peter Julian (Tax evasion) and 1 motion from Julie Dzerowicz (interprovincial trade barriers)); It did say interprovincial “tax” barriers. That is slightly amended to read interprovincial “trade” barriers.

Environment committee  Thank you, Ms. Ryan. The design of any measure that may affect trade has to take into account Canada's international trade law as well as the obligations on us that arise from agreements like the World Trade Organization General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services, and Canada's free trade agreements.

Irish Heritage Month  He in turn was a descendant of the 1600s Irish saint, Saint Oliver Plunkett, also martyred, whose head remains on display in a golden shrine at St. Peter's Church in Drogheda, Ireland. Yes, these connections can get people a free Guinness in any Irish pub. My daughter and her husband John named their children Ronan, meaning “little seal”, and Aidan, meaning “the fiery one”, both traditional Irish names, and yes, they both share red hair and blue eyes with their mom and less than 2% of the world's population.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, my colleague talked about opportunities. As a former energy worker, I know the building trades has indicated that the clean energy industry in the United States will quadruple over the next decade. With the Biden administration, there is a whole host of opportunities for Canadian clean energy exports.

Toxic Substances Warning Label Act  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-266, An Act regarding the right to know when products contain toxic substances. Madam Speaker, I thank my seconder, the member for Victoria, who is always a strong proponent of a better environment. During this COVID-19 pandemic, Canadians are rightfully concerned about their health.

Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020  Mr. Speaker, unlike the member, I actually come from the oil and gas industry. I worked at the Shellburn oil refinery in Burnaby, British Columbia, so I know the industry well and I know that it has had countless resources. In many cases, when one looks at subsidies, oil and gas is one of the most heavily subsidized industries in Canada.

Finance committee  Okay. My next question, then, is around some of the issues we talked about with the minister: the wealth tax that other countries have put into place to pay for COVID relief and COVID supports; the excess profits tax, which we had in the Second World War, which helped to ensure there wasn't the profiteering that we're certainly seeing through this pandemic; and also the web giants who are living a tax-free holiday right now while so many Canadians are suffering.

Finance committee  Thanks, Mr. Chair. During this pandemic, we've seen banks earning $29 billion and we've seen Canada's billionaires now increase their wealth by over $53 billion. So far, the only reply that you've had for us, Minister Freeland, is a partial closing of the stock option loophole, and we know that is something the government has been promising now for five years.

Finance committee  Thank you very much. I have to move on to Mr. Stratton. I'm a long-time member of the New Westminster Chamber of Commerce and a proud member of the Burnaby Board of Trade. What small business people raise consistently is that web giants and companies outside Canada are not paying any corporate tax at all.

Income Tax Act  Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise on behalf of the NDP caucus today at second reading of Bill C-208. We will be according our support at second reading to take it to committee. As I already indicated, we will be looking potentially for some clarifications around the bill when it goes to committee.

Finance committee  I appreciate it, Mr. Chair. I was making the point that questions of fairness—and those questions are at play if we deny public servants the opportunity to come to committee, as the Conservatives especially want to do, and I hope we won't. Questions of fairness are ultimately questions of justice.

Finance committee  The first group was the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, and if you will allow me a short use of the Peter Julian rule of 20 seconds of irrelevance, I do have to give a shout-out to CASA, as a former member when I was a student president of StFX University. It's a tremendous organization that goes to bat for students.

Information & Ethics committee  They were even going to give their technology for free to the Liberals so that they could embed themselves in Canada. I want to read to you from this, because it shows you how insidious this technology is. This is from Bloomberg, April 19, 2018.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I take a bit of issue with Mr. Julian's characterizing what's happening here as a filibuster. I think it's a spirited debate. A filibuster carries certain connotations. I don't doubt the sincerity of Mr. Julian, as he is a sincere person. I disagree with him a lot of the time, but he is someone who has added a great deal to committee deliberations.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's good to see colleagues. Mr. Chair, I won't take too much of the committee's time. I just wanted to take a few moments, if I could, to recap where we are. For those back at home, after weeks of watching it could be easy to be confused as to why we're here.