National Security Act, 2017  Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question. My answer will be brief. Unfortunately, I do not have much hope, since, despite the government’s promises to co-operate, collaborate, and be more open and democratic, that is not what we have been seeing in the past two years with the constant use of its parliamentary majority to crush the opposition.

National Security Act, 2017  Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to talk about this important bill. Earlier today, the Minister of Public Safety said that a government has no greater responsibility than keeping its people safe. These people live in our ridings. They are our colleagues, our neighbours, family friends, even our own children.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, ever since the paradise papers revealed information about Stephen Bronfman, the Minister of National Revenue has been giving us the same line: the government is committed to combatting tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. Wait a second, though. According to Revenue Canada's website, tax evasion involves deliberately ignoring the law.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, I have another number for the minister: 22. Twenty-two is the number of agreements the Liberals have with tax havens, and they are not lifting a finger to do anything about it. An article in this morning's Le Devoir states: When will the Liberal government finally cancel the tax treaties that allow a Canadian company registered in Barbados to avoid paying taxes here....When will it finally get tough on Canadian banks that earn some of their profits through their activities in tax havens in the south...

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, that answer had nothing to do with the question that was asked. Former senator Kolber and Stephen Bronfman, the chief fundraiser for the Liberal Party, have ties to a multi-million-dollar trust in the Cayman Islands. That is serious. Tax havens cost us billions of dollars every year and increase inequality.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, here is a quote: “Mr. Bronfman did nothing wrong. There is not a single wealthy Canadian who has not diversified their holdings through offshore tax havens”. Who said this? It was the Liberal member for Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel. Here is another quote: “There are people who use a legal system and then later confirm that they acted legally”.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, nobody is above the law, but the law is the problem. We now know that the Liberal Party fundraising chair, Stephen Bronfman, put money in tax havens. He claims that he always acted “properly...including fully complying with all applicable laws”. That is exactly the problem.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, if it were legal to rob a store, putting more police officers in front of the door would change absolutely nothing. The same logic applies to tax havens. We are being robbed, but it is legal. How great is that? The revenue minister's answers are basically spin. The government is not getting at the root of the problem.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, hiring more inspectors without changing the current treaties with tax havens will not amount to much. An international consortium of journalists published a list of new names of people who are benefiting from tax havens: the Queen of England, rock stars, Trump's entourage, and, in Canada, the Liberals.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, the Cayman Islands is the kind of place where there are more bank accounts than people. Members of the middle class and those working hard to join it do not have bank accounts in the Cayman Islands. For those who do not know, Stephen Bronfman was once the head of the Prime Minister's leadership campaign and is the chief fundraiser for the Liberal Party of Canada.

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question and for his efforts to help workers and retirees. His fight represents the values that are essential to progressives and, of course, our entire New Democratic movement. His question is entirely legitimate. Under pretext of helping the middle class, the Liberals have attacked them instead, by reducing their purchasing power, while maintaining measures that benefit our society's wealthiest and most privileged.

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I thank my tireless colleague for the question. He has an excellent attendance record in the House. Unfortunately, inequality is reaching an all-time high in Canada. Over the past 30 years, Canadian workers have helped grow our economy by more than 50%. Productivity and wealth creation have gone up, but workers' income has stagnated.

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent for his question. My answer is simple. I am absolutely outraged that a finance minister can make money off of bills introduced in the House. I am outraged that he is trying to get out of a scandal by writing a big, fat $5 million cheque.

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2  I thank the member from Drummond for his support, which has allowed me to have a drink of water. Today, we must debate the budget implementation bill. There are many things we could talk about. Let me go back to the last election. The Liberals told us that interest rates were low and that it was the right time to borrow money and to run deficits in order to reinvest in our infrastructure.

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I will continue in the same vein as my Conservative colleagues. I was not so much surprised as offended when I heard that the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner had fined the Minister of Finance for breaking the rules by forgetting to declare his villa in France, which he hid in a company.