Most toxic speeches
Mr. Speaker, nobody voted in the last election to elect a government that would be so focused on the rights of ISIS terrorists, people who watch soldiers burned alive in cages, people who sell women and girls into slavery. When people like that come home, they do not need to spend time writing haikus; they need to spend time in jail. When will the Prime Minister take this seriously?
Mr. Speaker, the government promised a client-focused CRA, and all we have so far are tax increases on type 1 diabetics, half-baked plans for taxes on retail employees, misinformation, and busy signals.Now there are reports that the CRA is auditing single moms and telling them to get expensive separation agreements, and then telling that it is not good enough, and withholding their child benefits.When will the minister stop attacking ordinary, honest Canadians who are just trying to comply, and receive the credits and benefits to which they are entitled?
Mr. Speaker, perhaps my colleague would benefit from being reminded that the tax measure he referred to is a tax increase for the wealthiest 1% and a tax cut for nine million Canadians. Our plan to do that was the worst-kept secret in town, because it was one of our campaign promises, and we keep our promises. Our promises have enabled Canada to achieve the highest growth in the G7 and have given some breathing room to families that need it, and I am very proud of that.
Mr. Speaker, CSIS warned the Liberal government all the way back in 2015 that returning ISIS fighters were a continuing and real threat to Canada. It warned that Canadian citizens were recruited by ISIS [not] because they needed more foot soldiers...but because they want to teach the Westerners to take the struggle into every neighbourhood and subway back home. ISIS specifically trained Canadian fighters to come back here and terrorize our community, and the Liberals have known about it for over two years.Why is the Prime Minister so focused on reintegration services and not putting these people in jail?
Mr. Speaker, devastating news out of Alberta reveals a 40% increase in opioid deaths this year and Canada will lose 3,000 lives in 2017. Families affected by this crisis are growing dismayed by the Prime Minister's glacial response. In fact, Moms Stop the Harm has started the Do Something Prime Minister Photo Campaign by sending photos of lost loved ones to the PMO.The Prime Minister has ignored our call to declare the opioid crisis a national public health emergency. How many more Canadians need to die before he finally listens?
Mr. Speaker, it is the Prime Minister who is de-emphasizing Canadian security, and Canadians are tired of it. It was Conservatives who amended the Criminal Code to make it an offence to leave Canada to fight for ISIS. It was Conservatives who were focused on giving our law enforcement new tools to prosecute ISIS fighters. The Prime Minister is using a broad spectrum that includes poetry and podcasts, and all kinds of counselling and group hug sessions.When will the Prime Minister take the security of Canadians seriously and look for ways to put these ISIS fighters in jail?
Mr. Speaker, while other shipyards in Canada are unable to turn out a ship, Davie delivers the goods. Yesterday, the Minister of National Defence said he had already ordered two more supply ships to meet the navy's needs. The problem is that Seaspan cannot start building them until 2023 and cannot deliver them until 2027. It will take 10 years to get the ships that Davie could build and deliver by 2019. Why is the government refusing to award contracts to Davie when this is the only sensible solution?
Mr. Speaker, I am assisting a single mom with three kids who has provided independent third-party letters and even a restraining order to prove to the Canada Revenue Agency that her ex-spouse no longer lives with her. Worse yet, CRA has said that until her ex co-operates with her, she will have her Canada child benefit withheld. The government is being heartless, and I am hearing increasing numbers of cases of similar stories. When will the minister instruct her officials to quit making life more difficult for Canadian single moms?
Mr. Speaker, the report of the Liberal dominated Standing Committee on National Defence is clear: the Royal Canadian Navy is vulnerable and does not have a resupply capability on the the high seas. Costs are skyrocketing and delivery times are getting longer. Not one vessel has been delivered. The Liberal government is incapable of providing a delivery date.What are the Liberals waiting for to immediately award the contract for the Obélix to the Lévis shipyard, as we did with the Astérix? This is about national security.
Mr. Speaker, on the front lawn of this building is a $5.6 million example of the Liberals' outlandish abuse of taxpayers' dollars.The Prime Minister commissioned this arena, and it will be open for a very short period of time. The public is only going to have access for 45 minutes, which, quite frankly, is going to be a bit of a relief, because according to the rules, all one is allowed to do is go around, around, and around.How can the Prime Minister justify this expense that will be on the backs of our grandchildren and children?
Mr. Speaker, the government supported our motion that deplores the loss of 800 jobs at the Davie shipyard, but it is not doing anything more. Quebec's labour minister has said that someone needs to wake up and make sure that the shipyard gets what it is entitled to. Forty Quebec Liberals are asleep at the switch on the other side of the House. It is all well and good to deplore the loss of 800 jobs, but it seems all the government is doing is shedding crocodile tears. This week, another 350 jobs will be lost.Does the government care? Is it going to do something?
Mr. Speaker, I find it strange that the Prime Minister is telling me that quoting from his own mandate letter to the Minister of Finance constitutes a personal attack. I think that what the Prime Minister should do is what he himself said when he was in opposition. In 2013 he said: Canadians deserve leaders who tell the truth. Leaders take responsibility when things go well but also when things go wrong. Why is the Prime Minister of 2017 not listening to the member for Papineau of 2013, not assuming his responsibilities, and not coming clean with Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, with $5.6 million how many outdoor skating rinks could we renew across Canada to get young children and their families to skate for the next 25 years?Instead of fuelling this Prime Minister's boundless egocentrism, why did this Prime Minister and the Minister of Canadian Heritage not consider investing all that money into several skating rinks. Instead of skating on just one temporary outdoor rink to the tune of $5.6 million for the sake of a photo op on New Year's Eve
Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that more than 30 local and community newspapers across the country will be shut down. The heritage minister has been talking the talk about the news industry crisis. She had options, yet she did nothing to prevent this disaster. Now she is saying she will study the issue, but with no action, frankly, there will not be much left to study. How can she sit back and do nothing as nearly 300 people lose their jobs? What will the minister say to her colleague the member for Orléans and his constituents when Orleans News shuts down?
Mr. Speaker, given the cloud of ethical scandals that seem to grow worse every day, I have a simple question for the Prime Minister. Does he still have confidence in his finance minister?
Mr. Speaker, I feel rather bad for the opposition members because we are managing a growing economy for the middle class, providing families with benefits that make a huge difference, and launching a national housing strategy that is being praised across the country.We are not giving opposition members many reasons to criticize our actions. They feel they need to make personal attacks, and that is truly unfortunate for our democracy, our government, and our country.
Mr. Speaker, in November 2015, someone sold a whole lot of Morneau Shepell shares and in the process saved a whole lot of money. Either the finance minister does not know who sold them, knows who sold them and it was not him, or knows who sold them and it was him. It is one of three answers. It is very simple. There should be no more threats from the Liberals. I do not think they are in any position to threaten us. They should just answer the question.
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times in the House for the member's benefit, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner and has always followed her recommendations. If he wants other facts, I can give him some. For example, real GDP growth was 1.6% during the 10 years they were in power. That is the worst performance since Mackenzie King. Average annual employment growth was 1%, the worst since the Second World War. He wants other facts, so here they are: growth was 3.7% last year, the best growth in the G7 for Canada. In addition, 500,000 jobs were created in the last two years, and there was a 40% drop in child poverty. That is the work our government has done.
Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of people who are watching question period, perhaps for the first time, across the country. The fact is that it is an opportunity to talk about substantive issues of the time that affect Canadians in terms of policy. The members opposite choose to go with personal attacks.A handy way of evaluating if those personal attacks are baseless or groundless is whether the members opposite are willing to repeat them outside this House where there is no parliamentary privilege. What we see here is Stephen Harper's party, through and through.
Mr. Speaker, as I said, I am dedicated to ensuring that Canadians, especially the most vulnerable, get the benefits they are entitled to. That is an absolutely key part of my mandate. I can assure my colleague that the CRA does not withhold the Canada child benefit for want of a spouse's signature. I want to emphasize that the CRA would not require potential beneficiaries to communicate with an abusive spouse.
Mr. Speaker, this minister, like all members of this House, worked with the Ethics Commissioner exactly to avoid any conflicts like this. The Ethics Commissioner exists above the back-and-forth of Parliament to ensure that people are following the rules and that mistakes are not made. That is exactly the job that she has been fulfilling, and that is exactly where Canadians can be reassured that, despite the personal attacks of the members opposite, the Ethics Commissioner is being followed.
Mr. Speaker, last night I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion with this particular opposition member, and I noticed that he was very careful not to repeat any of the allegations he is making here outside this chamber. If they are as justified as he claims, I invite him to repeat them outside this chamber.What I can say is that the tax measures he is referring to raised taxes for the wealthiest 1% and cut them for nine million Canadians. This was a promise we made during the election campaign, and I am very proud of it.
Mr. Speaker, despite the Liberals' promises, several hundred pyrrhotite victims have not been compensated. Furthermore, several hundred more do not even have a hope of obtaining compensation. They are caught in a grey area as they do not qualify for assistance because the federal standards for aggregates used in concrete are vague. Since the entire Mauricie community has been asking for this standard to be reviewed for years, how can the government revise the building code and refuse to review the standard for pyrrhotite content in concrete?
Mr. Speaker, this morning in committee, the deputy minister responsible for fixing the Phoenix fiasco said that IBM did not make any mistakes in creating and implementing the pay system. On the contrary, the company merely did what it was asked to do. In other words, all the blame lies with whoever is managing the project, namely this government. If the government did not know what it was doing when it implemented Phoenix, how can we expect it to fix this disaster? It is time to work with the real experts: our public servants and unions.
Mr. Speaker, let me assure everyone that resolving this situation is my top priority. People deserve to be paid properly and on time. When the previous government irresponsibly treated this project as a cost-cutting measure instead of the complex, enterprise-wide business transformation that it was, it set the project up to fail and exposed it to enormous risk. We are currently taking steps that the previous government did not take.
Mr. Speaker, like my colleague, I am disappointed that Postmedia and Torstar made this decision a month before Christmas. Of course my thoughts are with the workers and their families. These are cynical business decisions that were taken by Postmedia and Torstar, and it is up to these companies to explain them. The government will continue to support local media. We are investing $75 million a year and will continue to do so.
Mr. Speaker, he was fined by the Ethics Commissioner for hiding offshore corporations, he is under investigation by the Ethics Commissioner for introducing pension legislation that benefited himself and his family, and he has been misleading Canadians as to whether he actually divested himself of the shares he owns, and now questions are being raised about the sale of $10-million worth of Morneau Shepell shares just days before he introduced tax measures that would drastically affect the market.I have one quick question for the Prime Minister. Can we expect his finance minister to deliver the next budget?
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party learned nothing from the last election and the lessons Canadians taught them. They ran an election on snitch lines against Muslims, they ran an election on Islamophobia and division, and still they play the same games, trying to scare Canadians. The fact is we always focus on the security of Canadians, and we always will. They play the politics of fear, and Canadians reject that.
Mr. Speaker, the phoenix shows no signs of rising from the ashes. The problems continue.Now we learn there is no way to assess whether programs to prioritize the hiring of Canada's veterans are working. The government knew about this. It made promises, but still cannot claim an increased number of veterans in the public service because it has no way of knowing if, or how many, veterans have been hired.When will the government show veterans and public servants the respect they have earned, and fix the Phoenix problems?
Mr. Speaker, telling people what they will do and actually doing it is ironic, because if the finance minister had actually done what he told people he was going to do and had put his things in a blind trust, none of this would be an issue. The Prime Minister's instructions to the finance minister was that he must avoid conflict of interest, the appearance of conflict of interest and situations that have the potential to involve conflicts of interest. The finance minister has failed to live up to that standard, and because the Prime Minister has failed to enforce the standard, we had to once again write the Ethics Commissioner. If all of this is not a conflict of interest to the Prime Minister, what exactly is?
Mr. Speaker, in the past few months, there have been more than 60 cases of opioid overdoses in Montreal. The crisis has even reached Laval, where at least 10 more overdoses have occurred. The crisis is only getting worse across Canada. For a year now, the NDP has been calling on the Liberal government to treat the opioid crisis as a national emergency, so that communities in need can access more resources.With seven people dying every day, what is this government waiting for to declare that the opioid crisis has become a national emergency?
Mr. Speaker, our government recognizes the tragic impact of the opioid crisis that has faced our country. We remain committed to taking action through this compassionate, collaborative, and evidence-based approach. I also had the opportunity to meet that group when I was in Edmonton last week.Formal declarations of an emergency will not provide us with any additional tools or extra measures to provide to the opioid crisis. Our government will continue to work with all partners to address this crisis and the underlying cause of problematic substance use.
Mr. Speaker, our government has demonstrated a level of transparency, openness, and accountability that was completely unheard of during the days of the former government. We will continue to work with the Ethics Commissioner. We will continue to answer all the questions. We will continue to show that we are working hard every day to remain worthy of the trust that Canadians have put in us.
Mr. Speaker, all Canadians know that the minister sometimes forgets things. For two years, he forgot that he owned a villa in Provence. Now, he seems to have forgotten who sold 680,000 shares in his company, worth $10 million. Just now, referring to the Minister of Finance, the parliamentary secretary said, and I quote: he sold all his shares. Can the parliamentary secretary tell us when the Minister of Finance sold all his shares?
Mr. Speaker, I am sure the finance minister has been pretty busy lately sorting out his ethical lapses, and raising taxes on Canadians while sheltering his own from taxes. His mind has been pretty preoccupied. Maybe that is why yesterday he could not quite remember what he did in November 2015. However, 24 hours have passed and I am hoping the Prime Minister may have spoken with his finance minister.Can the Prime Minister tell us if the finance minister sold 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell in November 2015, yes or no?
Mr. Speaker, somebody avoided paying the higher taxes that the finance minister imposed by selling those 680,000 shares before those measures took place. Someone sold those shares before the new tax measures were tabled in this House of Commons. It was either the minister, and he does not think there was anything wrong with that, or it was not the minister, and he could just say that. We have repeated everything that was said in the House outside the House. The Liberals have refused to answer questions in the House or outside. Will the Prime Minister answer the question, who sold those shares in December?
Mr. Speaker, like my colleague, I am disappointed to see that Postmedia and Torstar decided to close these local media a month before Christmas. My thoughts are with the workers and their families. These are cynical business decisions that were taken by Postmedia and Torstar, and it is up to these companies to explain them. As for local newspapers, Canadians value them, and of course, as government, we will continue to provide our support to the local media.
Mr. Speaker, I think the member misunderstood my response. I asked if he was prepared to repeat the allegations, not the questions. He knows exactly what allegations he made yesterday in the House.I can assure everyone that the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, all Canadians want is simple answers to simple questions. If the minister has nothing to hide, all he has to do is answer this question. A week before he introduced tax measures affecting his own company, someone sold a block of 680,000 shares worth $10 million, neatly sidestepping a $500,000 loss when the stock market dropped.Here is the simple question. He owned the company. Can he tell us who sold that block of 680,000 shares?
Mr. Speaker our government is committed to creating open spaces for Canadians to debate and express their views. We also firmly support a woman's right to choose. In a free society, we may disagree with a person's views but we must defend the right to hold them unless those views promote hate.The opposition leader's silence suggests he will only stand up for free speech if it is politically convenient. We cannot cherry-pick on free speech.
Mr. Speaker, I am dedicated to ensuring that Canadians, especially the most vulnerable, get the benefits they are entitled to. That is a key part of my mandate. The CRA has never set out to make life more difficult for anyone. We realize that some people cannot provide all of the information needed for the agency to review their files. People grappling with situations like that should contact the CRA for help.
Mr. Speaker, this government, like all governments, takes extremely seriously the safety of Canadians, and that is why everything we do is focused on keeping Canadians safe. We know that a society that is safe is one in which we are using a broad range of tools to keep Canadians safe. Yes, we have enforcement, surveillance, and national security tools that we use to a significant degree, but we also have methods of de-emphasizing or deprogramming people who want to harm our society, and those are some of the things we have to move forward on.
Mr. Speaker, as the member already knows, the person responsible for enforcing the highest standards of integrity in the House is the Ethics Commissioner. It is with the Ethics Commissioner that the Minister of Finance has always been fully transparent by giving her his full co-operation to ensure that the rules are followed. That is what is expected of all members and all ministers, and that is what the Minister of Finance has always done.
If I were the hon. member for Orléans, I would not feel very reassured.Mr. Speaker, if we needed another alarm to alert us to the crisis in the news industry, we heard it yesterday with the announcement that some 30 local newspapers will be shut down, resulting in the loss of almost 300 jobs. This should come as no surprise, since we have been talking about this issue for years, and there have been several reports on it.Everyone warned the minister about the coming crisis, and she was offered turnkey, tangible solutions. The ship is sinking, yet the Liberal band continues to play as though nothing were wrong. I think I have seen that movie, and it did not end well.Is the minister ever going to take measures to help this industry, or is she going to wait until there are no newspapers left before she wakes up?
Mr. Speaker, there is no question that there are many who have suffered under Phoenix system, and veterans are certainly some of those.We are doing our level best to identify those who have been affected, and we are asking some of them to come forward. It does make it difficult, because we do need a head count on these individuals. However, I can say that these officials are working diligently on the matter. We ask those veterans who have not come forward and who have been affected by Phoenix to please do so, and we will do our level best to help.
Mr. Speaker, we need to make sure that Canadians have the skill and experience needed to work in today's economy. There are many well educated students graduating, but the common concern I hear from those in London North Centre is that they are unable to get their feet into the workforce without any work experience. This is a large gap that we must act to fill so as to ensure graduating students are successful. Can the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development please explain what he is doing to ensure that our graduates are ready for the workforce?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said, the Minister of Finance always worked with the Ethics Commissioner. He will continue to do so, but I do appreciate the opportunity to talk about the tax measures that were announced in December 2015, which fulfilled a commitment that we made during the election campaign, namely to raise taxes for the wealthiest 1%.I know that it is a fairly strange idea for the opposition party, which focused on giving tax breaks to the wealthy during the 10 years they were in power. We cut taxes for 9 million Canadians, and we introduced the Canada child benefit to reduce inequality in this country. This is a record that I am proud of.
Mr. Speaker, I do not exactly blame the NDP for not remembering the 2015 election. It was a pretty bad one for them. However, we were very clear throughout the entire campaign that we were going to lower taxes for the middle class and raise taxes on the wealthiest 1%. That is exactly what we did. The NDP have some theory about non-disclosure. It simply does not apply. We have anchored ourselves in telling people what we are going to do, and are doing it. It is working. We have the strongest growth in the G7 because of our finance minister and because of the plan.
Mr. Speaker, ever since he took office here in Ottawa, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner. He made sure he acted on her recommendations, including her advice to set up a conflict of interest screen. He announced that he had sold all of his shares in Morneau Shepell and that he was putting all of his assets in a blind trust in order to continue the important work he does for Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, we can see that Stephen Harper's Conservative Party is alive and well. They are doubling down on the same approaches they had in the last election, the same approaches that Canadians rejected. I wish them luck.
Mr. Speaker, our government is deeply concerned about the opioid crisis in Canada. We have taken several emergency measures on this issue, including significant federal investments, a new law, and expedited regulatory action.Going forward, we will be working with the provinces and territories to expand access to treatment, support innovative approaches, and respond to this crisis. We will fight against the stigma of opioid use.
Mr. Speaker, I am quite pleased with the question from the opposition member, who has given me the opportunity to talk about this tax measure that he is referring to. What is this tax measure? It is to raise taxes for the wealthiest 1% and to cut them for 9 million Canadians, and it is the Canada child benefit that we have made more progressive than ever. Under the Conservatives, not only was it taxable, but it was also sent to all families, regardless of income. We have introduced more fairness into our tax system to give more to those families who need it the most, and I am proud of that.
Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to announce last week that the Canada 150 rink will be open through the 40th anniversary of Winterlude and until the end of February. This will be a great legacy project, a first in front of Parliament Hill. Afterward, the rink will be given to a community in need. There will be hockey, ringette, sledge hockey for children and adult men and women, and many other activities. Thousands of Canadians will enjoy the delights of this great rink.I invite my colleague to put on her skates. It will be a pleasure for me to go and skate with her.
Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely right: we did do a panel yesterday, at which point, outside of the walls of this House, I asked when the Minister of Finance sold his 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell. I also enumerated all the facts leading up to that sale, and I am absolutely confident that everything I have said out there and in here is true. Would he commit that, if I go out and repeat my question in the lobby at this moment, the finance minister will meet me there and answer the question?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance, as I have already said, has been working with the Ethics Commissioner from the very beginning of his term. She is the one responsible, far from the partisanship that sometimes drives us in the House, to ensure that the rules and the highest standards of integrity are followed. The Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner and will continue to do so.
Mr. Speaker, that is said by a man who is under investigation by the Ethics Commissioner.The definition of insider trading is the use of undisclosed material information for profit. Here are the facts. The finance minister told the National Post he sold $10 million in Morneau Shepell shares in December 2015. Six days later he introduced a tax change that would have lost someone selling $10 million in shares half a million dollars. Just minutes ago, the finance minister refused to tell reporters if it was he who in fact had sold those shares.Given all of this, how can the Prime Minister still have confidence in his finance minister?
Mr. Speaker, the finance minister lowered taxes for the middle class and raised them on the wealthiest 1%. He delivered on a Canada child benefit that is helping nine out of 10 Canadian families and reducing child poverty by 40%. He strengthened the CPP for a generation with a historic agreement with the provinces. He has lowered small business taxes to 9%. He continues to focus on the things that matter to Canadians and he has our full confidence.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his support for education and students. As the member well knows, our government supports lifelong learning. We support work-integrated learning, which is why we invested $221 million to create more workplace opportunities in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and in business programs. This investment will create 10,000 paid internships for Canadian students from coast to coast to coast. This is about creating good-quality jobs for students for today and tomorrow.
Mr. Speaker, now we are back to everything was done with the Ethics Commissioner. I wonder if the minister told the Ethics Commissioner that he was going to sell $10 million of shares in stocks that would drop only a week later when he introduced a bill affecting the entire stock market.I will ask that question directly. Did the minister discuss the date of the sale of the shares along with the date of his motion on taxes?
Mr. Speaker, the navy is in the midst of the most comprehensive fleet modernization since peacetime in history. As part of the national shipbuilding strategy and under new defence policy, our government is acquiring fleet support ships to permanently replace the Protecteur class auxiliary oiler replenishment vessels. The project will deliver two vessels that will provide core replenishment, sealift capabilities, and support to our operations offshore. This government is committed to building new ships for the navy and to maintain Canada's naval capabilities over the long term.
Mr. Speaker, the NDP has asked the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner to launch another investigation into the Minister of Finance and the suspicious sale of Morneau Shepell shares in November 2015. If the commissioner decides to open an investigation, it will be the fourth investigation of members of this government, including two involving the Minister of Finance and one involving the Prime Minister.In his mandate letter to the Minister of Finance, the Prime Minister stated, ...the arrangement of your private affairs should bear the closest public scrutiny.When will the Prime Minister follow the rules that he himself established?
Mr. Speaker, the member says that the tax change was promised. So was electoral reform; so was the $10-billion deficit that suddenly became $20 billion; and so was the tax on stock options that never happened. Promises mean nothing. Motions in the House of Commons move markets, and only the minister knew when he would introduce that motion and was able to predict what impact it would have on stock markets.Someone sold 680,000 shares prior to the introduction of that motion, saving a half-million dollars. Who was it?
Mr. Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to remind members that it was the current Minister of Finance who put $30 million in the first federal budget for compensation for pyrrhotite victims in Mauricie. When we speak with the victims, it is obvious that they are aware that the government is acting in their best interests.
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have tried to score political points with their so-called support for free speech at post-secondary institutions, yet there has not been a word from the Leader of the Opposition after a group was prevented last week from showing a pro-choice documentary on a university campus. It seems like he is only in favour of free speech when it is an opinion he agrees with.Could the Minister of Science please tell the House what our government's position is on this important issue?
Mr. Speaker, earlier in question period, the Prime Minister said that his government is transparent, accountable, and trustworthy. Those are his words. This is a good opportunity to prove it.On December 7, the Minister of Finance introduced a tax policy that had a direct impact on the stock market and resulted in a 5% drop in the share price of his own company, Morneau Shepell. However, 680,000 shares had been sold a few days earlier on November 30, saving someone half a million dollars. To prove that he is transparent, accountable, and trustworthy, could the Prime Minister tell us if the person who sold those shares was the Minister of Finance?
Mr. Speaker, as I have stated, the navy is currently in the midst of the most comprehensive fleet modernization in its peacetime history. Work is under way on the two joint supply ships that Seaspan is building. Because of some of the delays, the interim ship was required, and we thank Davie for its tremendous work in filling this interim capability gap.
Mr. Speaker, last week, I announced that the Canada 150 skating rink will remain open until the end of February for the 40th anniversary of Winterlude. This great legacy project, a skating rink in front of Parliament, is a first and the skating rink will be donated to a community in need, as my colleague said.There will be hockey games, ringuette, and sledge hockey for young and old, men and women alike. Thousands of people are expected in front of Parliament. I hope that my colleague will join me for the Canada 150 celebrations.
Mr. Speaker, I tried asking the minister inside the House of Commons if he sold 680,000 shares on November 30 and now I invited him to come and answer that question outside the House of Commons. The House will be disappointed to learn that he did not show up to answer the question, so will the Prime Minister answer it on his behalf? Who was it who sold 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares one week before tax measures were introduced on the floor of the House?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times in the House, all members and all ministers are expected to work with the Ethics Commissioner to ensure that the rules governing us are followed. That is exactly what the Minister of Finance did as soon as he arrived in Ottawa. He announced that he was putting all his assets in a blind trust and that he was divesting himself of his remaining shares in Morneau Shepell. He also announced that he was donating to charity any difference in the value of those shares since the election.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday John Ivison indicated that he received some documents showing that the sale of the 680,000 shares by the minister would have happened on December 3. December 3 would be the settlement date for a sale that would have happened on November 30. We know that such a sale occurred by somebody, and that somebody avoided a five per cent drop in Morneau Shepell shares, which happened after he introduced his motion.Can the minister confirm that he was the one who sold that block of stock?
Mr. Speaker, we recognize the excellent work of Davie employees. Over the past few weeks, our government has been in contact with Davie shipyard executives and the unions. The company has presented a bid, and we are in discussions.Since 2011, the government has invested over $7 billion in the Canadian shipbuilding industry, including $717 million in Quebec, as part of the national shipbuilding strategy.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Morneau's office confirmed to the National Post that someone sold more than 680 shares
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner, who is responsible for preserving the integrity of Parliament. That duty does not fall to the opposition, which seems to consider itself judge and jury. It is up to the Ethics Commissioner, who acts impartially and with integrity. We have confidence in the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always been transparent in his dealings with the Ethics Commissioner by following her recommendations, including setting up a conflict of interest screen, which she thought was the best possible measure of compliance.As the member for Beauce knows, the minister announced that he would go the extra mile by divesting himself of the rest of his shares in Morneau Shepell and placing all his assets in a blind trust.
Mr. Speaker, the minister's office told the National Post that someone sold 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares in November 2015 at $15 a share, which allowed that person to save half a million dollars.My question is simple. Was that person the Minister of Finance?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner. He has always said that he was completely transparent with her in disclosing his assets, following her recommendations, and upholding the highest standards of integrity. He will always work with the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, SurreyNewton has many small and medium-sized businesses that trade with India every day. BI Pure Water, a Surrey-based business that focuses on clean tech, was part of the trade mission led by the Minister of International Trade to India earlier this month. Businesses like this benefit greatly from trade missions where they meet with companies to build stronger relationships. I ask the minister to update the House on his
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for SurreyNewton for the great work he is doing in his riding. We had 175 participants, 85 small and medium-sized businesses, and 300 meetings over five days in five cities. I was honoured to lead this historic mission, the biggest Canadian trade mission to India. During our mission, Canadian companies got to showcase their talents and expertise in various sectors like innovation and clean tech, while making numerous new connections. We will continue to have an ambitious trade agenda and make trade work for people.
Mr. Speaker, here are the facts: in December 2015, the Minister of Finance still owned thousands of shares in Morneau Shepell. On November 30, 2015, someone just happened to sell 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares worth $10 million. On December 7, one week later, the minister introduced tax measures that resulted in a 5% drop in the stock market, allowing this individual to make half a million dollars.Given that the Minister of Finance owned Morneau Shepell at that time, can he tell us who sold these shares?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always been transparent with the Ethics Commissioner, who is responsible for safeguarding the integrity of Parliament. He followed her recommendations, and he will continue to do so and to work with the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, my colleague said that the minister works with the Ethics Commissioner. If that is true, did he ask the Ethics Commissioner for permission before selling 680,000 shares in his family company, which allowed him to make a $500,000 profit, since the value of those shares dropped by 75¢ seven days later?Did the Minister of Finance inform the Ethics Commissioner of his intention to sell his company shares in November 2015, yes or no?
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. He will remember that in the Trudeau government's first budget we included $30 million for the victims, $10 million a year
Mr. Speaker
Mr. Speaker, nobody voted in the last election to elect a government that would be so focused on the rights of ISIS terrorists, people who watch soldiers burned alive in cages, people who sell women and girls into slavery. When people like that come home, they do not need to spend time writing haikus; they need to spend time in jail. When will the Prime Minister take this seriously?
Mr. Speaker, the government promised a client-focused CRA, and all we have so far are tax increases on type 1 diabetics, half-baked plans for taxes on retail employees, misinformation, and busy signals.Now there are reports that the CRA is auditing single moms and telling them to get expensive separation agreements, and then telling that it is not good enough, and withholding their child benefits.When will the minister stop attacking ordinary, honest Canadians who are just trying to comply, and receive the credits and benefits to which they are entitled?
Mr. Speaker, perhaps my colleague would benefit from being reminded that the tax measure he referred to is a tax increase for the wealthiest 1% and a tax cut for nine million Canadians. Our plan to do that was the worst-kept secret in town, because it was one of our campaign promises, and we keep our promises. Our promises have enabled Canada to achieve the highest growth in the G7 and have given some breathing room to families that need it, and I am very proud of that.
Mr. Speaker, CSIS warned the Liberal government all the way back in 2015 that returning ISIS fighters were a continuing and real threat to Canada. It warned that Canadian citizens were recruited by ISIS [not] because they needed more foot soldiers...but because they want to teach the Westerners to take the struggle into every neighbourhood and subway back home. ISIS specifically trained Canadian fighters to come back here and terrorize our community, and the Liberals have known about it for over two years.Why is the Prime Minister so focused on reintegration services and not putting these people in jail?
Mr. Speaker, devastating news out of Alberta reveals a 40% increase in opioid deaths this year and Canada will lose 3,000 lives in 2017. Families affected by this crisis are growing dismayed by the Prime Minister's glacial response. In fact, Moms Stop the Harm has started the Do Something Prime Minister Photo Campaign by sending photos of lost loved ones to the PMO.The Prime Minister has ignored our call to declare the opioid crisis a national public health emergency. How many more Canadians need to die before he finally listens?
Mr. Speaker, it is the Prime Minister who is de-emphasizing Canadian security, and Canadians are tired of it. It was Conservatives who amended the Criminal Code to make it an offence to leave Canada to fight for ISIS. It was Conservatives who were focused on giving our law enforcement new tools to prosecute ISIS fighters. The Prime Minister is using a broad spectrum that includes poetry and podcasts, and all kinds of counselling and group hug sessions.When will the Prime Minister take the security of Canadians seriously and look for ways to put these ISIS fighters in jail?
Mr. Speaker, while other shipyards in Canada are unable to turn out a ship, Davie delivers the goods. Yesterday, the Minister of National Defence said he had already ordered two more supply ships to meet the navy's needs. The problem is that Seaspan cannot start building them until 2023 and cannot deliver them until 2027. It will take 10 years to get the ships that Davie could build and deliver by 2019. Why is the government refusing to award contracts to Davie when this is the only sensible solution?
Mr. Speaker, I am assisting a single mom with three kids who has provided independent third-party letters and even a restraining order to prove to the Canada Revenue Agency that her ex-spouse no longer lives with her. Worse yet, CRA has said that until her ex co-operates with her, she will have her Canada child benefit withheld. The government is being heartless, and I am hearing increasing numbers of cases of similar stories. When will the minister instruct her officials to quit making life more difficult for Canadian single moms?
Mr. Speaker, the report of the Liberal dominated Standing Committee on National Defence is clear: the Royal Canadian Navy is vulnerable and does not have a resupply capability on the the high seas. Costs are skyrocketing and delivery times are getting longer. Not one vessel has been delivered. The Liberal government is incapable of providing a delivery date.What are the Liberals waiting for to immediately award the contract for the Obélix to the Lévis shipyard, as we did with the Astérix? This is about national security.
Mr. Speaker, on the front lawn of this building is a $5.6 million example of the Liberals' outlandish abuse of taxpayers' dollars.The Prime Minister commissioned this arena, and it will be open for a very short period of time. The public is only going to have access for 45 minutes, which, quite frankly, is going to be a bit of a relief, because according to the rules, all one is allowed to do is go around, around, and around.How can the Prime Minister justify this expense that will be on the backs of our grandchildren and children?
Mr. Speaker, the government supported our motion that deplores the loss of 800 jobs at the Davie shipyard, but it is not doing anything more. Quebec's labour minister has said that someone needs to wake up and make sure that the shipyard gets what it is entitled to. Forty Quebec Liberals are asleep at the switch on the other side of the House. It is all well and good to deplore the loss of 800 jobs, but it seems all the government is doing is shedding crocodile tears. This week, another 350 jobs will be lost.Does the government care? Is it going to do something?
Mr. Speaker, I find it strange that the Prime Minister is telling me that quoting from his own mandate letter to the Minister of Finance constitutes a personal attack. I think that what the Prime Minister should do is what he himself said when he was in opposition. In 2013 he said: Canadians deserve leaders who tell the truth. Leaders take responsibility when things go well but also when things go wrong. Why is the Prime Minister of 2017 not listening to the member for Papineau of 2013, not assuming his responsibilities, and not coming clean with Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, with $5.6 million how many outdoor skating rinks could we renew across Canada to get young children and their families to skate for the next 25 years?Instead of fuelling this Prime Minister's boundless egocentrism, why did this Prime Minister and the Minister of Canadian Heritage not consider investing all that money into several skating rinks. Instead of skating on just one temporary outdoor rink to the tune of $5.6 million for the sake of a photo op on New Year's Eve
Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that more than 30 local and community newspapers across the country will be shut down. The heritage minister has been talking the talk about the news industry crisis. She had options, yet she did nothing to prevent this disaster. Now she is saying she will study the issue, but with no action, frankly, there will not be much left to study. How can she sit back and do nothing as nearly 300 people lose their jobs? What will the minister say to her colleague the member for Orléans and his constituents when Orleans News shuts down?
Mr. Speaker, given the cloud of ethical scandals that seem to grow worse every day, I have a simple question for the Prime Minister. Does he still have confidence in his finance minister?
Mr. Speaker, I feel rather bad for the opposition members because we are managing a growing economy for the middle class, providing families with benefits that make a huge difference, and launching a national housing strategy that is being praised across the country.We are not giving opposition members many reasons to criticize our actions. They feel they need to make personal attacks, and that is truly unfortunate for our democracy, our government, and our country.
Mr. Speaker, in November 2015, someone sold a whole lot of Morneau Shepell shares and in the process saved a whole lot of money. Either the finance minister does not know who sold them, knows who sold them and it was not him, or knows who sold them and it was him. It is one of three answers. It is very simple. There should be no more threats from the Liberals. I do not think they are in any position to threaten us. They should just answer the question.
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times in the House for the member's benefit, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner and has always followed her recommendations. If he wants other facts, I can give him some. For example, real GDP growth was 1.6% during the 10 years they were in power. That is the worst performance since Mackenzie King. Average annual employment growth was 1%, the worst since the Second World War. He wants other facts, so here they are: growth was 3.7% last year, the best growth in the G7 for Canada. In addition, 500,000 jobs were created in the last two years, and there was a 40% drop in child poverty. That is the work our government has done.
Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of people who are watching question period, perhaps for the first time, across the country. The fact is that it is an opportunity to talk about substantive issues of the time that affect Canadians in terms of policy. The members opposite choose to go with personal attacks.A handy way of evaluating if those personal attacks are baseless or groundless is whether the members opposite are willing to repeat them outside this House where there is no parliamentary privilege. What we see here is Stephen Harper's party, through and through.
Mr. Speaker, as I said, I am dedicated to ensuring that Canadians, especially the most vulnerable, get the benefits they are entitled to. That is an absolutely key part of my mandate. I can assure my colleague that the CRA does not withhold the Canada child benefit for want of a spouse's signature. I want to emphasize that the CRA would not require potential beneficiaries to communicate with an abusive spouse.
Mr. Speaker, this minister, like all members of this House, worked with the Ethics Commissioner exactly to avoid any conflicts like this. The Ethics Commissioner exists above the back-and-forth of Parliament to ensure that people are following the rules and that mistakes are not made. That is exactly the job that she has been fulfilling, and that is exactly where Canadians can be reassured that, despite the personal attacks of the members opposite, the Ethics Commissioner is being followed.
Mr. Speaker, last night I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion with this particular opposition member, and I noticed that he was very careful not to repeat any of the allegations he is making here outside this chamber. If they are as justified as he claims, I invite him to repeat them outside this chamber.What I can say is that the tax measures he is referring to raised taxes for the wealthiest 1% and cut them for nine million Canadians. This was a promise we made during the election campaign, and I am very proud of it.
Mr. Speaker, despite the Liberals' promises, several hundred pyrrhotite victims have not been compensated. Furthermore, several hundred more do not even have a hope of obtaining compensation. They are caught in a grey area as they do not qualify for assistance because the federal standards for aggregates used in concrete are vague. Since the entire Mauricie community has been asking for this standard to be reviewed for years, how can the government revise the building code and refuse to review the standard for pyrrhotite content in concrete?
Mr. Speaker, this morning in committee, the deputy minister responsible for fixing the Phoenix fiasco said that IBM did not make any mistakes in creating and implementing the pay system. On the contrary, the company merely did what it was asked to do. In other words, all the blame lies with whoever is managing the project, namely this government. If the government did not know what it was doing when it implemented Phoenix, how can we expect it to fix this disaster? It is time to work with the real experts: our public servants and unions.
Mr. Speaker, let me assure everyone that resolving this situation is my top priority. People deserve to be paid properly and on time. When the previous government irresponsibly treated this project as a cost-cutting measure instead of the complex, enterprise-wide business transformation that it was, it set the project up to fail and exposed it to enormous risk. We are currently taking steps that the previous government did not take.
Mr. Speaker, like my colleague, I am disappointed that Postmedia and Torstar made this decision a month before Christmas. Of course my thoughts are with the workers and their families. These are cynical business decisions that were taken by Postmedia and Torstar, and it is up to these companies to explain them. The government will continue to support local media. We are investing $75 million a year and will continue to do so.
Mr. Speaker, he was fined by the Ethics Commissioner for hiding offshore corporations, he is under investigation by the Ethics Commissioner for introducing pension legislation that benefited himself and his family, and he has been misleading Canadians as to whether he actually divested himself of the shares he owns, and now questions are being raised about the sale of $10-million worth of Morneau Shepell shares just days before he introduced tax measures that would drastically affect the market.I have one quick question for the Prime Minister. Can we expect his finance minister to deliver the next budget?
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party learned nothing from the last election and the lessons Canadians taught them. They ran an election on snitch lines against Muslims, they ran an election on Islamophobia and division, and still they play the same games, trying to scare Canadians. The fact is we always focus on the security of Canadians, and we always will. They play the politics of fear, and Canadians reject that.
Mr. Speaker, the phoenix shows no signs of rising from the ashes. The problems continue.Now we learn there is no way to assess whether programs to prioritize the hiring of Canada's veterans are working. The government knew about this. It made promises, but still cannot claim an increased number of veterans in the public service because it has no way of knowing if, or how many, veterans have been hired.When will the government show veterans and public servants the respect they have earned, and fix the Phoenix problems?
Mr. Speaker, telling people what they will do and actually doing it is ironic, because if the finance minister had actually done what he told people he was going to do and had put his things in a blind trust, none of this would be an issue. The Prime Minister's instructions to the finance minister was that he must avoid conflict of interest, the appearance of conflict of interest and situations that have the potential to involve conflicts of interest. The finance minister has failed to live up to that standard, and because the Prime Minister has failed to enforce the standard, we had to once again write the Ethics Commissioner. If all of this is not a conflict of interest to the Prime Minister, what exactly is?
Mr. Speaker, in the past few months, there have been more than 60 cases of opioid overdoses in Montreal. The crisis has even reached Laval, where at least 10 more overdoses have occurred. The crisis is only getting worse across Canada. For a year now, the NDP has been calling on the Liberal government to treat the opioid crisis as a national emergency, so that communities in need can access more resources.With seven people dying every day, what is this government waiting for to declare that the opioid crisis has become a national emergency?
Mr. Speaker, our government recognizes the tragic impact of the opioid crisis that has faced our country. We remain committed to taking action through this compassionate, collaborative, and evidence-based approach. I also had the opportunity to meet that group when I was in Edmonton last week.Formal declarations of an emergency will not provide us with any additional tools or extra measures to provide to the opioid crisis. Our government will continue to work with all partners to address this crisis and the underlying cause of problematic substance use.
Mr. Speaker, our government has demonstrated a level of transparency, openness, and accountability that was completely unheard of during the days of the former government. We will continue to work with the Ethics Commissioner. We will continue to answer all the questions. We will continue to show that we are working hard every day to remain worthy of the trust that Canadians have put in us.
Mr. Speaker, all Canadians know that the minister sometimes forgets things. For two years, he forgot that he owned a villa in Provence. Now, he seems to have forgotten who sold 680,000 shares in his company, worth $10 million. Just now, referring to the Minister of Finance, the parliamentary secretary said, and I quote: he sold all his shares. Can the parliamentary secretary tell us when the Minister of Finance sold all his shares?
Mr. Speaker, I am sure the finance minister has been pretty busy lately sorting out his ethical lapses, and raising taxes on Canadians while sheltering his own from taxes. His mind has been pretty preoccupied. Maybe that is why yesterday he could not quite remember what he did in November 2015. However, 24 hours have passed and I am hoping the Prime Minister may have spoken with his finance minister.Can the Prime Minister tell us if the finance minister sold 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell in November 2015, yes or no?
Mr. Speaker, somebody avoided paying the higher taxes that the finance minister imposed by selling those 680,000 shares before those measures took place. Someone sold those shares before the new tax measures were tabled in this House of Commons. It was either the minister, and he does not think there was anything wrong with that, or it was not the minister, and he could just say that. We have repeated everything that was said in the House outside the House. The Liberals have refused to answer questions in the House or outside. Will the Prime Minister answer the question, who sold those shares in December?
Mr. Speaker, like my colleague, I am disappointed to see that Postmedia and Torstar decided to close these local media a month before Christmas. My thoughts are with the workers and their families. These are cynical business decisions that were taken by Postmedia and Torstar, and it is up to these companies to explain them. As for local newspapers, Canadians value them, and of course, as government, we will continue to provide our support to the local media.
Mr. Speaker, I think the member misunderstood my response. I asked if he was prepared to repeat the allegations, not the questions. He knows exactly what allegations he made yesterday in the House.I can assure everyone that the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, all Canadians want is simple answers to simple questions. If the minister has nothing to hide, all he has to do is answer this question. A week before he introduced tax measures affecting his own company, someone sold a block of 680,000 shares worth $10 million, neatly sidestepping a $500,000 loss when the stock market dropped.Here is the simple question. He owned the company. Can he tell us who sold that block of 680,000 shares?
Mr. Speaker our government is committed to creating open spaces for Canadians to debate and express their views. We also firmly support a woman's right to choose. In a free society, we may disagree with a person's views but we must defend the right to hold them unless those views promote hate.The opposition leader's silence suggests he will only stand up for free speech if it is politically convenient. We cannot cherry-pick on free speech.
Mr. Speaker, I am dedicated to ensuring that Canadians, especially the most vulnerable, get the benefits they are entitled to. That is a key part of my mandate. The CRA has never set out to make life more difficult for anyone. We realize that some people cannot provide all of the information needed for the agency to review their files. People grappling with situations like that should contact the CRA for help.
Mr. Speaker, this government, like all governments, takes extremely seriously the safety of Canadians, and that is why everything we do is focused on keeping Canadians safe. We know that a society that is safe is one in which we are using a broad range of tools to keep Canadians safe. Yes, we have enforcement, surveillance, and national security tools that we use to a significant degree, but we also have methods of de-emphasizing or deprogramming people who want to harm our society, and those are some of the things we have to move forward on.
Mr. Speaker, as the member already knows, the person responsible for enforcing the highest standards of integrity in the House is the Ethics Commissioner. It is with the Ethics Commissioner that the Minister of Finance has always been fully transparent by giving her his full co-operation to ensure that the rules are followed. That is what is expected of all members and all ministers, and that is what the Minister of Finance has always done.
If I were the hon. member for Orléans, I would not feel very reassured.Mr. Speaker, if we needed another alarm to alert us to the crisis in the news industry, we heard it yesterday with the announcement that some 30 local newspapers will be shut down, resulting in the loss of almost 300 jobs. This should come as no surprise, since we have been talking about this issue for years, and there have been several reports on it.Everyone warned the minister about the coming crisis, and she was offered turnkey, tangible solutions. The ship is sinking, yet the Liberal band continues to play as though nothing were wrong. I think I have seen that movie, and it did not end well.Is the minister ever going to take measures to help this industry, or is she going to wait until there are no newspapers left before she wakes up?
Mr. Speaker, there is no question that there are many who have suffered under Phoenix system, and veterans are certainly some of those.We are doing our level best to identify those who have been affected, and we are asking some of them to come forward. It does make it difficult, because we do need a head count on these individuals. However, I can say that these officials are working diligently on the matter. We ask those veterans who have not come forward and who have been affected by Phoenix to please do so, and we will do our level best to help.
Mr. Speaker, we need to make sure that Canadians have the skill and experience needed to work in today's economy. There are many well educated students graduating, but the common concern I hear from those in London North Centre is that they are unable to get their feet into the workforce without any work experience. This is a large gap that we must act to fill so as to ensure graduating students are successful. Can the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development please explain what he is doing to ensure that our graduates are ready for the workforce?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said, the Minister of Finance always worked with the Ethics Commissioner. He will continue to do so, but I do appreciate the opportunity to talk about the tax measures that were announced in December 2015, which fulfilled a commitment that we made during the election campaign, namely to raise taxes for the wealthiest 1%.I know that it is a fairly strange idea for the opposition party, which focused on giving tax breaks to the wealthy during the 10 years they were in power. We cut taxes for 9 million Canadians, and we introduced the Canada child benefit to reduce inequality in this country. This is a record that I am proud of.
Mr. Speaker, I do not exactly blame the NDP for not remembering the 2015 election. It was a pretty bad one for them. However, we were very clear throughout the entire campaign that we were going to lower taxes for the middle class and raise taxes on the wealthiest 1%. That is exactly what we did. The NDP have some theory about non-disclosure. It simply does not apply. We have anchored ourselves in telling people what we are going to do, and are doing it. It is working. We have the strongest growth in the G7 because of our finance minister and because of the plan.
Mr. Speaker, ever since he took office here in Ottawa, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner. He made sure he acted on her recommendations, including her advice to set up a conflict of interest screen. He announced that he had sold all of his shares in Morneau Shepell and that he was putting all of his assets in a blind trust in order to continue the important work he does for Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, we can see that Stephen Harper's Conservative Party is alive and well. They are doubling down on the same approaches they had in the last election, the same approaches that Canadians rejected. I wish them luck.
Mr. Speaker, our government is deeply concerned about the opioid crisis in Canada. We have taken several emergency measures on this issue, including significant federal investments, a new law, and expedited regulatory action.Going forward, we will be working with the provinces and territories to expand access to treatment, support innovative approaches, and respond to this crisis. We will fight against the stigma of opioid use.
Mr. Speaker, I am quite pleased with the question from the opposition member, who has given me the opportunity to talk about this tax measure that he is referring to. What is this tax measure? It is to raise taxes for the wealthiest 1% and to cut them for 9 million Canadians, and it is the Canada child benefit that we have made more progressive than ever. Under the Conservatives, not only was it taxable, but it was also sent to all families, regardless of income. We have introduced more fairness into our tax system to give more to those families who need it the most, and I am proud of that.
Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to announce last week that the Canada 150 rink will be open through the 40th anniversary of Winterlude and until the end of February. This will be a great legacy project, a first in front of Parliament Hill. Afterward, the rink will be given to a community in need. There will be hockey, ringette, sledge hockey for children and adult men and women, and many other activities. Thousands of Canadians will enjoy the delights of this great rink.I invite my colleague to put on her skates. It will be a pleasure for me to go and skate with her.
Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely right: we did do a panel yesterday, at which point, outside of the walls of this House, I asked when the Minister of Finance sold his 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell. I also enumerated all the facts leading up to that sale, and I am absolutely confident that everything I have said out there and in here is true. Would he commit that, if I go out and repeat my question in the lobby at this moment, the finance minister will meet me there and answer the question?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance, as I have already said, has been working with the Ethics Commissioner from the very beginning of his term. She is the one responsible, far from the partisanship that sometimes drives us in the House, to ensure that the rules and the highest standards of integrity are followed. The Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner and will continue to do so.
Mr. Speaker, that is said by a man who is under investigation by the Ethics Commissioner.The definition of insider trading is the use of undisclosed material information for profit. Here are the facts. The finance minister told the National Post he sold $10 million in Morneau Shepell shares in December 2015. Six days later he introduced a tax change that would have lost someone selling $10 million in shares half a million dollars. Just minutes ago, the finance minister refused to tell reporters if it was he who in fact had sold those shares.Given all of this, how can the Prime Minister still have confidence in his finance minister?
Mr. Speaker, the finance minister lowered taxes for the middle class and raised them on the wealthiest 1%. He delivered on a Canada child benefit that is helping nine out of 10 Canadian families and reducing child poverty by 40%. He strengthened the CPP for a generation with a historic agreement with the provinces. He has lowered small business taxes to 9%. He continues to focus on the things that matter to Canadians and he has our full confidence.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his support for education and students. As the member well knows, our government supports lifelong learning. We support work-integrated learning, which is why we invested $221 million to create more workplace opportunities in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and in business programs. This investment will create 10,000 paid internships for Canadian students from coast to coast to coast. This is about creating good-quality jobs for students for today and tomorrow.
Mr. Speaker, now we are back to everything was done with the Ethics Commissioner. I wonder if the minister told the Ethics Commissioner that he was going to sell $10 million of shares in stocks that would drop only a week later when he introduced a bill affecting the entire stock market.I will ask that question directly. Did the minister discuss the date of the sale of the shares along with the date of his motion on taxes?
Mr. Speaker, the navy is in the midst of the most comprehensive fleet modernization since peacetime in history. As part of the national shipbuilding strategy and under new defence policy, our government is acquiring fleet support ships to permanently replace the Protecteur class auxiliary oiler replenishment vessels. The project will deliver two vessels that will provide core replenishment, sealift capabilities, and support to our operations offshore. This government is committed to building new ships for the navy and to maintain Canada's naval capabilities over the long term.
Mr. Speaker, the NDP has asked the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner to launch another investigation into the Minister of Finance and the suspicious sale of Morneau Shepell shares in November 2015. If the commissioner decides to open an investigation, it will be the fourth investigation of members of this government, including two involving the Minister of Finance and one involving the Prime Minister.In his mandate letter to the Minister of Finance, the Prime Minister stated, ...the arrangement of your private affairs should bear the closest public scrutiny.When will the Prime Minister follow the rules that he himself established?
Mr. Speaker, the member says that the tax change was promised. So was electoral reform; so was the $10-billion deficit that suddenly became $20 billion; and so was the tax on stock options that never happened. Promises mean nothing. Motions in the House of Commons move markets, and only the minister knew when he would introduce that motion and was able to predict what impact it would have on stock markets.Someone sold 680,000 shares prior to the introduction of that motion, saving a half-million dollars. Who was it?
Mr. Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to remind members that it was the current Minister of Finance who put $30 million in the first federal budget for compensation for pyrrhotite victims in Mauricie. When we speak with the victims, it is obvious that they are aware that the government is acting in their best interests.
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have tried to score political points with their so-called support for free speech at post-secondary institutions, yet there has not been a word from the Leader of the Opposition after a group was prevented last week from showing a pro-choice documentary on a university campus. It seems like he is only in favour of free speech when it is an opinion he agrees with.Could the Minister of Science please tell the House what our government's position is on this important issue?
Mr. Speaker, earlier in question period, the Prime Minister said that his government is transparent, accountable, and trustworthy. Those are his words. This is a good opportunity to prove it.On December 7, the Minister of Finance introduced a tax policy that had a direct impact on the stock market and resulted in a 5% drop in the share price of his own company, Morneau Shepell. However, 680,000 shares had been sold a few days earlier on November 30, saving someone half a million dollars. To prove that he is transparent, accountable, and trustworthy, could the Prime Minister tell us if the person who sold those shares was the Minister of Finance?
Mr. Speaker, as I have stated, the navy is currently in the midst of the most comprehensive fleet modernization in its peacetime history. Work is under way on the two joint supply ships that Seaspan is building. Because of some of the delays, the interim ship was required, and we thank Davie for its tremendous work in filling this interim capability gap.
Mr. Speaker, last week, I announced that the Canada 150 skating rink will remain open until the end of February for the 40th anniversary of Winterlude. This great legacy project, a skating rink in front of Parliament, is a first and the skating rink will be donated to a community in need, as my colleague said.There will be hockey games, ringuette, and sledge hockey for young and old, men and women alike. Thousands of people are expected in front of Parliament. I hope that my colleague will join me for the Canada 150 celebrations.
Mr. Speaker, I tried asking the minister inside the House of Commons if he sold 680,000 shares on November 30 and now I invited him to come and answer that question outside the House of Commons. The House will be disappointed to learn that he did not show up to answer the question, so will the Prime Minister answer it on his behalf? Who was it who sold 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares one week before tax measures were introduced on the floor of the House?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times in the House, all members and all ministers are expected to work with the Ethics Commissioner to ensure that the rules governing us are followed. That is exactly what the Minister of Finance did as soon as he arrived in Ottawa. He announced that he was putting all his assets in a blind trust and that he was divesting himself of his remaining shares in Morneau Shepell. He also announced that he was donating to charity any difference in the value of those shares since the election.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday John Ivison indicated that he received some documents showing that the sale of the 680,000 shares by the minister would have happened on December 3. December 3 would be the settlement date for a sale that would have happened on November 30. We know that such a sale occurred by somebody, and that somebody avoided a five per cent drop in Morneau Shepell shares, which happened after he introduced his motion.Can the minister confirm that he was the one who sold that block of stock?
Mr. Speaker, we recognize the excellent work of Davie employees. Over the past few weeks, our government has been in contact with Davie shipyard executives and the unions. The company has presented a bid, and we are in discussions.Since 2011, the government has invested over $7 billion in the Canadian shipbuilding industry, including $717 million in Quebec, as part of the national shipbuilding strategy.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Morneau's office confirmed to the National Post that someone sold more than 680 shares
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner, who is responsible for preserving the integrity of Parliament. That duty does not fall to the opposition, which seems to consider itself judge and jury. It is up to the Ethics Commissioner, who acts impartially and with integrity. We have confidence in the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always been transparent in his dealings with the Ethics Commissioner by following her recommendations, including setting up a conflict of interest screen, which she thought was the best possible measure of compliance.As the member for Beauce knows, the minister announced that he would go the extra mile by divesting himself of the rest of his shares in Morneau Shepell and placing all his assets in a blind trust.
Mr. Speaker, the minister's office told the National Post that someone sold 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares in November 2015 at $15 a share, which allowed that person to save half a million dollars.My question is simple. Was that person the Minister of Finance?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner. He has always said that he was completely transparent with her in disclosing his assets, following her recommendations, and upholding the highest standards of integrity. He will always work with the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, SurreyNewton has many small and medium-sized businesses that trade with India every day. BI Pure Water, a Surrey-based business that focuses on clean tech, was part of the trade mission led by the Minister of International Trade to India earlier this month. Businesses like this benefit greatly from trade missions where they meet with companies to build stronger relationships. I ask the minister to update the House on his
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for SurreyNewton for the great work he is doing in his riding. We had 175 participants, 85 small and medium-sized businesses, and 300 meetings over five days in five cities. I was honoured to lead this historic mission, the biggest Canadian trade mission to India. During our mission, Canadian companies got to showcase their talents and expertise in various sectors like innovation and clean tech, while making numerous new connections. We will continue to have an ambitious trade agenda and make trade work for people.
Mr. Speaker, here are the facts: in December 2015, the Minister of Finance still owned thousands of shares in Morneau Shepell. On November 30, 2015, someone just happened to sell 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares worth $10 million. On December 7, one week later, the minister introduced tax measures that resulted in a 5% drop in the stock market, allowing this individual to make half a million dollars.Given that the Minister of Finance owned Morneau Shepell at that time, can he tell us who sold these shares?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always been transparent with the Ethics Commissioner, who is responsible for safeguarding the integrity of Parliament. He followed her recommendations, and he will continue to do so and to work with the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, my colleague said that the minister works with the Ethics Commissioner. If that is true, did he ask the Ethics Commissioner for permission before selling 680,000 shares in his family company, which allowed him to make a $500,000 profit, since the value of those shares dropped by 75¢ seven days later?Did the Minister of Finance inform the Ethics Commissioner of his intention to sell his company shares in November 2015, yes or no?
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. He will remember that in the Trudeau government's first budget we included $30 million for the victims, $10 million a year
Mr. Speaker
Most negative speeches
Mr. Speaker, like my colleague, I am disappointed that Postmedia and Torstar made this decision a month before Christmas. Of course my thoughts are with the workers and their families. These are cynical business decisions that were taken by Postmedia and Torstar, and it is up to these companies to explain them. The government will continue to support local media. We are investing $75 million a year and will continue to do so.
Mr. Speaker, I tried asking the minister inside the House of Commons if he sold 680,000 shares on November 30 and now I invited him to come and answer that question outside the House of Commons. The House will be disappointed to learn that he did not show up to answer the question, so will the Prime Minister answer it on his behalf? Who was it who sold 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares one week before tax measures were introduced on the floor of the House?
Mr. Speaker, like my colleague, I am disappointed to see that Postmedia and Torstar decided to close these local media a month before Christmas. My thoughts are with the workers and their families. These are cynical business decisions that were taken by Postmedia and Torstar, and it is up to these companies to explain them. As for local newspapers, Canadians value them, and of course, as government, we will continue to provide our support to the local media.
Mr. Speaker, it is the Prime Minister who is de-emphasizing Canadian security, and Canadians are tired of it. It was Conservatives who amended the Criminal Code to make it an offence to leave Canada to fight for ISIS. It was Conservatives who were focused on giving our law enforcement new tools to prosecute ISIS fighters. The Prime Minister is using a broad spectrum that includes poetry and podcasts, and all kinds of counselling and group hug sessions.When will the Prime Minister take the security of Canadians seriously and look for ways to put these ISIS fighters in jail?
Mr. Speaker, our government recognizes the tragic impact of the opioid crisis that has faced our country. We remain committed to taking action through this compassionate, collaborative, and evidence-based approach. I also had the opportunity to meet that group when I was in Edmonton last week.Formal declarations of an emergency will not provide us with any additional tools or extra measures to provide to the opioid crisis. Our government will continue to work with all partners to address this crisis and the underlying cause of problematic substance use.
Mr. Speaker, that is said by a man who is under investigation by the Ethics Commissioner.The definition of insider trading is the use of undisclosed material information for profit. Here are the facts. The finance minister told the National Post he sold $10 million in Morneau Shepell shares in December 2015. Six days later he introduced a tax change that would have lost someone selling $10 million in shares half a million dollars. Just minutes ago, the finance minister refused to tell reporters if it was he who in fact had sold those shares.Given all of this, how can the Prime Minister still have confidence in his finance minister?
Mr. Speaker, the minister's office told the National Post that someone sold 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares in November 2015 at $15 a share, which allowed that person to save half a million dollars.My question is simple. Was that person the Minister of Finance?
Mr. Speaker, telling people what they will do and actually doing it is ironic, because if the finance minister had actually done what he told people he was going to do and had put his things in a blind trust, none of this would be an issue. The Prime Minister's instructions to the finance minister was that he must avoid conflict of interest, the appearance of conflict of interest and situations that have the potential to involve conflicts of interest. The finance minister has failed to live up to that standard, and because the Prime Minister has failed to enforce the standard, we had to once again write the Ethics Commissioner. If all of this is not a conflict of interest to the Prime Minister, what exactly is?
Mr. Speaker, the report of the Liberal dominated Standing Committee on National Defence is clear: the Royal Canadian Navy is vulnerable and does not have a resupply capability on the the high seas. Costs are skyrocketing and delivery times are getting longer. Not one vessel has been delivered. The Liberal government is incapable of providing a delivery date.What are the Liberals waiting for to immediately award the contract for the Obélix to the Lévis shipyard, as we did with the Astérix? This is about national security.
Mr. Speaker, let me assure everyone that resolving this situation is my top priority. People deserve to be paid properly and on time. When the previous government irresponsibly treated this project as a cost-cutting measure instead of the complex, enterprise-wide business transformation that it was, it set the project up to fail and exposed it to enormous risk. We are currently taking steps that the previous government did not take.
Mr. Speaker, I am assisting a single mom with three kids who has provided independent third-party letters and even a restraining order to prove to the Canada Revenue Agency that her ex-spouse no longer lives with her. Worse yet, CRA has said that until her ex co-operates with her, she will have her Canada child benefit withheld. The government is being heartless, and I am hearing increasing numbers of cases of similar stories. When will the minister instruct her officials to quit making life more difficult for Canadian single moms?
If I were the hon. member for Orléans, I would not feel very reassured.Mr. Speaker, if we needed another alarm to alert us to the crisis in the news industry, we heard it yesterday with the announcement that some 30 local newspapers will be shut down, resulting in the loss of almost 300 jobs. This should come as no surprise, since we have been talking about this issue for years, and there have been several reports on it.Everyone warned the minister about the coming crisis, and she was offered turnkey, tangible solutions. The ship is sinking, yet the Liberal band continues to play as though nothing were wrong. I think I have seen that movie, and it did not end well.Is the minister ever going to take measures to help this industry, or is she going to wait until there are no newspapers left before she wakes up?
Mr. Speaker, given the cloud of ethical scandals that seem to grow worse every day, I have a simple question for the Prime Minister. Does he still have confidence in his finance minister?
Mr. Speaker, I feel rather bad for the opposition members because we are managing a growing economy for the middle class, providing families with benefits that make a huge difference, and launching a national housing strategy that is being praised across the country.We are not giving opposition members many reasons to criticize our actions. They feel they need to make personal attacks, and that is truly unfortunate for our democracy, our government, and our country.
Mr. Speaker, the government promised a client-focused CRA, and all we have so far are tax increases on type 1 diabetics, half-baked plans for taxes on retail employees, misinformation, and busy signals.Now there are reports that the CRA is auditing single moms and telling them to get expensive separation agreements, and then telling that it is not good enough, and withholding their child benefits.When will the minister stop attacking ordinary, honest Canadians who are just trying to comply, and receive the credits and benefits to which they are entitled?
Mr. Speaker, this morning in committee, the deputy minister responsible for fixing the Phoenix fiasco said that IBM did not make any mistakes in creating and implementing the pay system. On the contrary, the company merely did what it was asked to do. In other words, all the blame lies with whoever is managing the project, namely this government. If the government did not know what it was doing when it implemented Phoenix, how can we expect it to fix this disaster? It is time to work with the real experts: our public servants and unions.
Mr. Speaker, while other shipyards in Canada are unable to turn out a ship, Davie delivers the goods. Yesterday, the Minister of National Defence said he had already ordered two more supply ships to meet the navy's needs. The problem is that Seaspan cannot start building them until 2023 and cannot deliver them until 2027. It will take 10 years to get the ships that Davie could build and deliver by 2019. Why is the government refusing to award contracts to Davie when this is the only sensible solution?
Mr. Speaker, I do not exactly blame the NDP for not remembering the 2015 election. It was a pretty bad one for them. However, we were very clear throughout the entire campaign that we were going to lower taxes for the middle class and raise taxes on the wealthiest 1%. That is exactly what we did. The NDP have some theory about non-disclosure. It simply does not apply. We have anchored ourselves in telling people what we are going to do, and are doing it. It is working. We have the strongest growth in the G7 because of our finance minister and because of the plan.
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times in the House for the member's benefit, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner and has always followed her recommendations. If he wants other facts, I can give him some. For example, real GDP growth was 1.6% during the 10 years they were in power. That is the worst performance since Mackenzie King. Average annual employment growth was 1%, the worst since the Second World War. He wants other facts, so here they are: growth was 3.7% last year, the best growth in the G7 for Canada. In addition, 500,000 jobs were created in the last two years, and there was a 40% drop in child poverty. That is the work our government has done.
Mr. Speaker, somebody avoided paying the higher taxes that the finance minister imposed by selling those 680,000 shares before those measures took place. Someone sold those shares before the new tax measures were tabled in this House of Commons. It was either the minister, and he does not think there was anything wrong with that, or it was not the minister, and he could just say that. We have repeated everything that was said in the House outside the House. The Liberals have refused to answer questions in the House or outside. Will the Prime Minister answer the question, who sold those shares in December?
Mr. Speaker, we can see that Stephen Harper's Conservative Party is alive and well. They are doubling down on the same approaches they had in the last election, the same approaches that Canadians rejected. I wish them luck.
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party learned nothing from the last election and the lessons Canadians taught them. They ran an election on snitch lines against Muslims, they ran an election on Islamophobia and division, and still they play the same games, trying to scare Canadians. The fact is we always focus on the security of Canadians, and we always will. They play the politics of fear, and Canadians reject that.
Mr. Speaker
Mr. Speaker, the NDP has asked the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner to launch another investigation into the Minister of Finance and the suspicious sale of Morneau Shepell shares in November 2015. If the commissioner decides to open an investigation, it will be the fourth investigation of members of this government, including two involving the Minister of Finance and one involving the Prime Minister.In his mandate letter to the Minister of Finance, the Prime Minister stated, ...the arrangement of your private affairs should bear the closest public scrutiny.When will the Prime Minister follow the rules that he himself established?
Mr. Speaker, yesterday John Ivison indicated that he received some documents showing that the sale of the 680,000 shares by the minister would have happened on December 3. December 3 would be the settlement date for a sale that would have happened on November 30. We know that such a sale occurred by somebody, and that somebody avoided a five per cent drop in Morneau Shepell shares, which happened after he introduced his motion.Can the minister confirm that he was the one who sold that block of stock?
Mr. Speaker, I am dedicated to ensuring that Canadians, especially the most vulnerable, get the benefits they are entitled to. That is a key part of my mandate. The CRA has never set out to make life more difficult for anyone. We realize that some people cannot provide all of the information needed for the agency to review their files. People grappling with situations like that should contact the CRA for help.
Mr. Speaker, as I said, I am dedicated to ensuring that Canadians, especially the most vulnerable, get the benefits they are entitled to. That is an absolutely key part of my mandate. I can assure my colleague that the CRA does not withhold the Canada child benefit for want of a spouse's signature. I want to emphasize that the CRA would not require potential beneficiaries to communicate with an abusive spouse.
Mr. Speaker, on the front lawn of this building is a $5.6 million example of the Liberals' outlandish abuse of taxpayers' dollars.The Prime Minister commissioned this arena, and it will be open for a very short period of time. The public is only going to have access for 45 minutes, which, quite frankly, is going to be a bit of a relief, because according to the rules, all one is allowed to do is go around, around, and around.How can the Prime Minister justify this expense that will be on the backs of our grandchildren and children?
Mr. Speaker, now we are back to everything was done with the Ethics Commissioner. I wonder if the minister told the Ethics Commissioner that he was going to sell $10 million of shares in stocks that would drop only a week later when he introduced a bill affecting the entire stock market.I will ask that question directly. Did the minister discuss the date of the sale of the shares along with the date of his motion on taxes?
Mr. Speaker, the finance minister lowered taxes for the middle class and raised them on the wealthiest 1%. He delivered on a Canada child benefit that is helping nine out of 10 Canadian families and reducing child poverty by 40%. He strengthened the CPP for a generation with a historic agreement with the provinces. He has lowered small business taxes to 9%. He continues to focus on the things that matter to Canadians and he has our full confidence.
Mr. Speaker, despite the Liberals' promises, several hundred pyrrhotite victims have not been compensated. Furthermore, several hundred more do not even have a hope of obtaining compensation. They are caught in a grey area as they do not qualify for assistance because the federal standards for aggregates used in concrete are vague. Since the entire Mauricie community has been asking for this standard to be reviewed for years, how can the government revise the building code and refuse to review the standard for pyrrhotite content in concrete?
Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that more than 30 local and community newspapers across the country will be shut down. The heritage minister has been talking the talk about the news industry crisis. She had options, yet she did nothing to prevent this disaster. Now she is saying she will study the issue, but with no action, frankly, there will not be much left to study. How can she sit back and do nothing as nearly 300 people lose their jobs? What will the minister say to her colleague the member for Orléans and his constituents when Orleans News shuts down?
Mr. Speaker, here are the facts: in December 2015, the Minister of Finance still owned thousands of shares in Morneau Shepell. On November 30, 2015, someone just happened to sell 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares worth $10 million. On December 7, one week later, the minister introduced tax measures that resulted in a 5% drop in the stock market, allowing this individual to make half a million dollars.Given that the Minister of Finance owned Morneau Shepell at that time, can he tell us who sold these shares?
Mr. Speaker, our government has demonstrated a level of transparency, openness, and accountability that was completely unheard of during the days of the former government. We will continue to work with the Ethics Commissioner. We will continue to answer all the questions. We will continue to show that we are working hard every day to remain worthy of the trust that Canadians have put in us.
Mr. Speaker, the member says that the tax change was promised. So was electoral reform; so was the $10-billion deficit that suddenly became $20 billion; and so was the tax on stock options that never happened. Promises mean nothing. Motions in the House of Commons move markets, and only the minister knew when he would introduce that motion and was able to predict what impact it would have on stock markets.Someone sold 680,000 shares prior to the introduction of that motion, saving a half-million dollars. Who was it?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times in the House, all members and all ministers are expected to work with the Ethics Commissioner to ensure that the rules governing us are followed. That is exactly what the Minister of Finance did as soon as he arrived in Ottawa. He announced that he was putting all his assets in a blind trust and that he was divesting himself of his remaining shares in Morneau Shepell. He also announced that he was donating to charity any difference in the value of those shares since the election.
Mr. Speaker, in November 2015, someone sold a whole lot of Morneau Shepell shares and in the process saved a whole lot of money. Either the finance minister does not know who sold them, knows who sold them and it was not him, or knows who sold them and it was him. It is one of three answers. It is very simple. There should be no more threats from the Liberals. I do not think they are in any position to threaten us. They should just answer the question.
Mr. Speaker, in the past few months, there have been more than 60 cases of opioid overdoses in Montreal. The crisis has even reached Laval, where at least 10 more overdoses have occurred. The crisis is only getting worse across Canada. For a year now, the NDP has been calling on the Liberal government to treat the opioid crisis as a national emergency, so that communities in need can access more resources.With seven people dying every day, what is this government waiting for to declare that the opioid crisis has become a national emergency?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner. He has always said that he was completely transparent with her in disclosing his assets, following her recommendations, and upholding the highest standards of integrity. He will always work with the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, I find it strange that the Prime Minister is telling me that quoting from his own mandate letter to the Minister of Finance constitutes a personal attack. I think that what the Prime Minister should do is what he himself said when he was in opposition. In 2013 he said: Canadians deserve leaders who tell the truth. Leaders take responsibility when things go well but also when things go wrong. Why is the Prime Minister of 2017 not listening to the member for Papineau of 2013, not assuming his responsibilities, and not coming clean with Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, with $5.6 million how many outdoor skating rinks could we renew across Canada to get young children and their families to skate for the next 25 years?Instead of fuelling this Prime Minister's boundless egocentrism, why did this Prime Minister and the Minister of Canadian Heritage not consider investing all that money into several skating rinks. Instead of skating on just one temporary outdoor rink to the tune of $5.6 million for the sake of a photo op on New Year's Eve
Mr. Speaker, nobody voted in the last election to elect a government that would be so focused on the rights of ISIS terrorists, people who watch soldiers burned alive in cages, people who sell women and girls into slavery. When people like that come home, they do not need to spend time writing haikus; they need to spend time in jail. When will the Prime Minister take this seriously?
Mr. Speaker, CSIS warned the Liberal government all the way back in 2015 that returning ISIS fighters were a continuing and real threat to Canada. It warned that Canadian citizens were recruited by ISIS [not] because they needed more foot soldiers...but because they want to teach the Westerners to take the struggle into every neighbourhood and subway back home. ISIS specifically trained Canadian fighters to come back here and terrorize our community, and the Liberals have known about it for over two years.Why is the Prime Minister so focused on reintegration services and not putting these people in jail?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always been transparent in his dealings with the Ethics Commissioner by following her recommendations, including setting up a conflict of interest screen, which she thought was the best possible measure of compliance.As the member for Beauce knows, the minister announced that he would go the extra mile by divesting himself of the rest of his shares in Morneau Shepell and placing all his assets in a blind trust.
Mr. Speaker, this minister, like all members of this House, worked with the Ethics Commissioner exactly to avoid any conflicts like this. The Ethics Commissioner exists above the back-and-forth of Parliament to ensure that people are following the rules and that mistakes are not made. That is exactly the job that she has been fulfilling, and that is exactly where Canadians can be reassured that, despite the personal attacks of the members opposite, the Ethics Commissioner is being followed.
Mr. Speaker, devastating news out of Alberta reveals a 40% increase in opioid deaths this year and Canada will lose 3,000 lives in 2017. Families affected by this crisis are growing dismayed by the Prime Minister's glacial response. In fact, Moms Stop the Harm has started the Do Something Prime Minister Photo Campaign by sending photos of lost loved ones to the PMO.The Prime Minister has ignored our call to declare the opioid crisis a national public health emergency. How many more Canadians need to die before he finally listens?
Mr. Speaker, ever since he took office here in Ottawa, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner. He made sure he acted on her recommendations, including her advice to set up a conflict of interest screen. He announced that he had sold all of his shares in Morneau Shepell and that he was putting all of his assets in a blind trust in order to continue the important work he does for Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of people who are watching question period, perhaps for the first time, across the country. The fact is that it is an opportunity to talk about substantive issues of the time that affect Canadians in terms of policy. The members opposite choose to go with personal attacks.A handy way of evaluating if those personal attacks are baseless or groundless is whether the members opposite are willing to repeat them outside this House where there is no parliamentary privilege. What we see here is Stephen Harper's party, through and through.
Mr. Speaker, earlier in question period, the Prime Minister said that his government is transparent, accountable, and trustworthy. Those are his words. This is a good opportunity to prove it.On December 7, the Minister of Finance introduced a tax policy that had a direct impact on the stock market and resulted in a 5% drop in the share price of his own company, Morneau Shepell. However, 680,000 shares had been sold a few days earlier on November 30, saving someone half a million dollars. To prove that he is transparent, accountable, and trustworthy, could the Prime Minister tell us if the person who sold those shares was the Minister of Finance?
Mr. Speaker, as the member already knows, the person responsible for enforcing the highest standards of integrity in the House is the Ethics Commissioner. It is with the Ethics Commissioner that the Minister of Finance has always been fully transparent by giving her his full co-operation to ensure that the rules are followed. That is what is expected of all members and all ministers, and that is what the Minister of Finance has always done.
Mr. Speaker, he was fined by the Ethics Commissioner for hiding offshore corporations, he is under investigation by the Ethics Commissioner for introducing pension legislation that benefited himself and his family, and he has been misleading Canadians as to whether he actually divested himself of the shares he owns, and now questions are being raised about the sale of $10-million worth of Morneau Shepell shares just days before he introduced tax measures that would drastically affect the market.I have one quick question for the Prime Minister. Can we expect his finance minister to deliver the next budget?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for SurreyNewton for the great work he is doing in his riding. We had 175 participants, 85 small and medium-sized businesses, and 300 meetings over five days in five cities. I was honoured to lead this historic mission, the biggest Canadian trade mission to India. During our mission, Canadian companies got to showcase their talents and expertise in various sectors like innovation and clean tech, while making numerous new connections. We will continue to have an ambitious trade agenda and make trade work for people.
Mr. Speaker, last week, I announced that the Canada 150 skating rink will remain open until the end of February for the 40th anniversary of Winterlude. This great legacy project, a skating rink in front of Parliament, is a first and the skating rink will be donated to a community in need, as my colleague said.There will be hockey games, ringuette, and sledge hockey for young and old, men and women alike. Thousands of people are expected in front of Parliament. I hope that my colleague will join me for the Canada 150 celebrations.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance, as I have already said, has been working with the Ethics Commissioner from the very beginning of his term. She is the one responsible, far from the partisanship that sometimes drives us in the House, to ensure that the rules and the highest standards of integrity are followed. The Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner and will continue to do so.
Mr. Speaker, the phoenix shows no signs of rising from the ashes. The problems continue.Now we learn there is no way to assess whether programs to prioritize the hiring of Canada's veterans are working. The government knew about this. It made promises, but still cannot claim an increased number of veterans in the public service because it has no way of knowing if, or how many, veterans have been hired.When will the government show veterans and public servants the respect they have earned, and fix the Phoenix problems?
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have tried to score political points with their so-called support for free speech at post-secondary institutions, yet there has not been a word from the Leader of the Opposition after a group was prevented last week from showing a pro-choice documentary on a university campus. It seems like he is only in favour of free speech when it is an opinion he agrees with.Could the Minister of Science please tell the House what our government's position is on this important issue?
Mr. Speaker our government is committed to creating open spaces for Canadians to debate and express their views. We also firmly support a woman's right to choose. In a free society, we may disagree with a person's views but we must defend the right to hold them unless those views promote hate.The opposition leader's silence suggests he will only stand up for free speech if it is politically convenient. We cannot cherry-pick on free speech.
Mr. Speaker, all Canadians want is simple answers to simple questions. If the minister has nothing to hide, all he has to do is answer this question. A week before he introduced tax measures affecting his own company, someone sold a block of 680,000 shares worth $10 million, neatly sidestepping a $500,000 loss when the stock market dropped.Here is the simple question. He owned the company. Can he tell us who sold that block of 680,000 shares?
Mr. Speaker, the navy is in the midst of the most comprehensive fleet modernization since peacetime in history. As part of the national shipbuilding strategy and under new defence policy, our government is acquiring fleet support ships to permanently replace the Protecteur class auxiliary oiler replenishment vessels. The project will deliver two vessels that will provide core replenishment, sealift capabilities, and support to our operations offshore. This government is committed to building new ships for the navy and to maintain Canada's naval capabilities over the long term.
Mr. Speaker, we recognize the excellent work of Davie employees. Over the past few weeks, our government has been in contact with Davie shipyard executives and the unions. The company has presented a bid, and we are in discussions.Since 2011, the government has invested over $7 billion in the Canadian shipbuilding industry, including $717 million in Quebec, as part of the national shipbuilding strategy.
Mr. Speaker, we need to make sure that Canadians have the skill and experience needed to work in today's economy. There are many well educated students graduating, but the common concern I hear from those in London North Centre is that they are unable to get their feet into the workforce without any work experience. This is a large gap that we must act to fill so as to ensure graduating students are successful. Can the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development please explain what he is doing to ensure that our graduates are ready for the workforce?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always been transparent with the Ethics Commissioner, who is responsible for safeguarding the integrity of Parliament. He followed her recommendations, and he will continue to do so and to work with the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his support for education and students. As the member well knows, our government supports lifelong learning. We support work-integrated learning, which is why we invested $221 million to create more workplace opportunities in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and in business programs. This investment will create 10,000 paid internships for Canadian students from coast to coast to coast. This is about creating good-quality jobs for students for today and tomorrow.
Mr. Speaker, our government is deeply concerned about the opioid crisis in Canada. We have taken several emergency measures on this issue, including significant federal investments, a new law, and expedited regulatory action.Going forward, we will be working with the provinces and territories to expand access to treatment, support innovative approaches, and respond to this crisis. We will fight against the stigma of opioid use.
Mr. Speaker, last night I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion with this particular opposition member, and I noticed that he was very careful not to repeat any of the allegations he is making here outside this chamber. If they are as justified as he claims, I invite him to repeat them outside this chamber.What I can say is that the tax measures he is referring to raised taxes for the wealthiest 1% and cut them for nine million Canadians. This was a promise we made during the election campaign, and I am very proud of it.
Mr. Speaker, I am sure the finance minister has been pretty busy lately sorting out his ethical lapses, and raising taxes on Canadians while sheltering his own from taxes. His mind has been pretty preoccupied. Maybe that is why yesterday he could not quite remember what he did in November 2015. However, 24 hours have passed and I am hoping the Prime Minister may have spoken with his finance minister.Can the Prime Minister tell us if the finance minister sold 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell in November 2015, yes or no?
Mr. Speaker, SurreyNewton has many small and medium-sized businesses that trade with India every day. BI Pure Water, a Surrey-based business that focuses on clean tech, was part of the trade mission led by the Minister of International Trade to India earlier this month. Businesses like this benefit greatly from trade missions where they meet with companies to build stronger relationships. I ask the minister to update the House on his
Mr. Speaker, I think the member misunderstood my response. I asked if he was prepared to repeat the allegations, not the questions. He knows exactly what allegations he made yesterday in the House.I can assure everyone that the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. He will remember that in the Trudeau government's first budget we included $30 million for the victims, $10 million a year
Mr. Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to remind members that it was the current Minister of Finance who put $30 million in the first federal budget for compensation for pyrrhotite victims in Mauricie. When we speak with the victims, it is obvious that they are aware that the government is acting in their best interests.
Mr. Speaker, this government, like all governments, takes extremely seriously the safety of Canadians, and that is why everything we do is focused on keeping Canadians safe. We know that a society that is safe is one in which we are using a broad range of tools to keep Canadians safe. Yes, we have enforcement, surveillance, and national security tools that we use to a significant degree, but we also have methods of de-emphasizing or deprogramming people who want to harm our society, and those are some of the things we have to move forward on.
Mr. Speaker, as I have stated, the navy is currently in the midst of the most comprehensive fleet modernization in its peacetime history. Work is under way on the two joint supply ships that Seaspan is building. Because of some of the delays, the interim ship was required, and we thank Davie for its tremendous work in filling this interim capability gap.
Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely right: we did do a panel yesterday, at which point, outside of the walls of this House, I asked when the Minister of Finance sold his 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell. I also enumerated all the facts leading up to that sale, and I am absolutely confident that everything I have said out there and in here is true. Would he commit that, if I go out and repeat my question in the lobby at this moment, the finance minister will meet me there and answer the question?
Mr. Speaker, perhaps my colleague would benefit from being reminded that the tax measure he referred to is a tax increase for the wealthiest 1% and a tax cut for nine million Canadians. Our plan to do that was the worst-kept secret in town, because it was one of our campaign promises, and we keep our promises. Our promises have enabled Canada to achieve the highest growth in the G7 and have given some breathing room to families that need it, and I am very proud of that.
Mr. Speaker, all Canadians know that the minister sometimes forgets things. For two years, he forgot that he owned a villa in Provence. Now, he seems to have forgotten who sold 680,000 shares in his company, worth $10 million. Just now, referring to the Minister of Finance, the parliamentary secretary said, and I quote: he sold all his shares. Can the parliamentary secretary tell us when the Minister of Finance sold all his shares?
Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to announce last week that the Canada 150 rink will be open through the 40th anniversary of Winterlude and until the end of February. This will be a great legacy project, a first in front of Parliament Hill. Afterward, the rink will be given to a community in need. There will be hockey, ringette, sledge hockey for children and adult men and women, and many other activities. Thousands of Canadians will enjoy the delights of this great rink.I invite my colleague to put on her skates. It will be a pleasure for me to go and skate with her.
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner, who is responsible for preserving the integrity of Parliament. That duty does not fall to the opposition, which seems to consider itself judge and jury. It is up to the Ethics Commissioner, who acts impartially and with integrity. We have confidence in the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, my colleague said that the minister works with the Ethics Commissioner. If that is true, did he ask the Ethics Commissioner for permission before selling 680,000 shares in his family company, which allowed him to make a $500,000 profit, since the value of those shares dropped by 75¢ seven days later?Did the Minister of Finance inform the Ethics Commissioner of his intention to sell his company shares in November 2015, yes or no?
Mr. Speaker, the government supported our motion that deplores the loss of 800 jobs at the Davie shipyard, but it is not doing anything more. Quebec's labour minister has said that someone needs to wake up and make sure that the shipyard gets what it is entitled to. Forty Quebec Liberals are asleep at the switch on the other side of the House. It is all well and good to deplore the loss of 800 jobs, but it seems all the government is doing is shedding crocodile tears. This week, another 350 jobs will be lost.Does the government care? Is it going to do something?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said, the Minister of Finance always worked with the Ethics Commissioner. He will continue to do so, but I do appreciate the opportunity to talk about the tax measures that were announced in December 2015, which fulfilled a commitment that we made during the election campaign, namely to raise taxes for the wealthiest 1%.I know that it is a fairly strange idea for the opposition party, which focused on giving tax breaks to the wealthy during the 10 years they were in power. We cut taxes for 9 million Canadians, and we introduced the Canada child benefit to reduce inequality in this country. This is a record that I am proud of.
Mr. Speaker, there is no question that there are many who have suffered under Phoenix system, and veterans are certainly some of those.We are doing our level best to identify those who have been affected, and we are asking some of them to come forward. It does make it difficult, because we do need a head count on these individuals. However, I can say that these officials are working diligently on the matter. We ask those veterans who have not come forward and who have been affected by Phoenix to please do so, and we will do our level best to help.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Morneau's office confirmed to the National Post that someone sold more than 680 shares
Mr. Speaker, I am quite pleased with the question from the opposition member, who has given me the opportunity to talk about this tax measure that he is referring to. What is this tax measure? It is to raise taxes for the wealthiest 1% and to cut them for 9 million Canadians, and it is the Canada child benefit that we have made more progressive than ever. Under the Conservatives, not only was it taxable, but it was also sent to all families, regardless of income. We have introduced more fairness into our tax system to give more to those families who need it the most, and I am proud of that.
Mr. Speaker, like my colleague, I am disappointed that Postmedia and Torstar made this decision a month before Christmas. Of course my thoughts are with the workers and their families. These are cynical business decisions that were taken by Postmedia and Torstar, and it is up to these companies to explain them. The government will continue to support local media. We are investing $75 million a year and will continue to do so.
Mr. Speaker, I tried asking the minister inside the House of Commons if he sold 680,000 shares on November 30 and now I invited him to come and answer that question outside the House of Commons. The House will be disappointed to learn that he did not show up to answer the question, so will the Prime Minister answer it on his behalf? Who was it who sold 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares one week before tax measures were introduced on the floor of the House?
Mr. Speaker, like my colleague, I am disappointed to see that Postmedia and Torstar decided to close these local media a month before Christmas. My thoughts are with the workers and their families. These are cynical business decisions that were taken by Postmedia and Torstar, and it is up to these companies to explain them. As for local newspapers, Canadians value them, and of course, as government, we will continue to provide our support to the local media.
Mr. Speaker, it is the Prime Minister who is de-emphasizing Canadian security, and Canadians are tired of it. It was Conservatives who amended the Criminal Code to make it an offence to leave Canada to fight for ISIS. It was Conservatives who were focused on giving our law enforcement new tools to prosecute ISIS fighters. The Prime Minister is using a broad spectrum that includes poetry and podcasts, and all kinds of counselling and group hug sessions.When will the Prime Minister take the security of Canadians seriously and look for ways to put these ISIS fighters in jail?
Mr. Speaker, our government recognizes the tragic impact of the opioid crisis that has faced our country. We remain committed to taking action through this compassionate, collaborative, and evidence-based approach. I also had the opportunity to meet that group when I was in Edmonton last week.Formal declarations of an emergency will not provide us with any additional tools or extra measures to provide to the opioid crisis. Our government will continue to work with all partners to address this crisis and the underlying cause of problematic substance use.
Mr. Speaker, that is said by a man who is under investigation by the Ethics Commissioner.The definition of insider trading is the use of undisclosed material information for profit. Here are the facts. The finance minister told the National Post he sold $10 million in Morneau Shepell shares in December 2015. Six days later he introduced a tax change that would have lost someone selling $10 million in shares half a million dollars. Just minutes ago, the finance minister refused to tell reporters if it was he who in fact had sold those shares.Given all of this, how can the Prime Minister still have confidence in his finance minister?
Mr. Speaker, the minister's office told the National Post that someone sold 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares in November 2015 at $15 a share, which allowed that person to save half a million dollars.My question is simple. Was that person the Minister of Finance?
Mr. Speaker, telling people what they will do and actually doing it is ironic, because if the finance minister had actually done what he told people he was going to do and had put his things in a blind trust, none of this would be an issue. The Prime Minister's instructions to the finance minister was that he must avoid conflict of interest, the appearance of conflict of interest and situations that have the potential to involve conflicts of interest. The finance minister has failed to live up to that standard, and because the Prime Minister has failed to enforce the standard, we had to once again write the Ethics Commissioner. If all of this is not a conflict of interest to the Prime Minister, what exactly is?
Mr. Speaker, the report of the Liberal dominated Standing Committee on National Defence is clear: the Royal Canadian Navy is vulnerable and does not have a resupply capability on the the high seas. Costs are skyrocketing and delivery times are getting longer. Not one vessel has been delivered. The Liberal government is incapable of providing a delivery date.What are the Liberals waiting for to immediately award the contract for the Obélix to the Lévis shipyard, as we did with the Astérix? This is about national security.
Mr. Speaker, let me assure everyone that resolving this situation is my top priority. People deserve to be paid properly and on time. When the previous government irresponsibly treated this project as a cost-cutting measure instead of the complex, enterprise-wide business transformation that it was, it set the project up to fail and exposed it to enormous risk. We are currently taking steps that the previous government did not take.
Mr. Speaker, I am assisting a single mom with three kids who has provided independent third-party letters and even a restraining order to prove to the Canada Revenue Agency that her ex-spouse no longer lives with her. Worse yet, CRA has said that until her ex co-operates with her, she will have her Canada child benefit withheld. The government is being heartless, and I am hearing increasing numbers of cases of similar stories. When will the minister instruct her officials to quit making life more difficult for Canadian single moms?
If I were the hon. member for Orléans, I would not feel very reassured.Mr. Speaker, if we needed another alarm to alert us to the crisis in the news industry, we heard it yesterday with the announcement that some 30 local newspapers will be shut down, resulting in the loss of almost 300 jobs. This should come as no surprise, since we have been talking about this issue for years, and there have been several reports on it.Everyone warned the minister about the coming crisis, and she was offered turnkey, tangible solutions. The ship is sinking, yet the Liberal band continues to play as though nothing were wrong. I think I have seen that movie, and it did not end well.Is the minister ever going to take measures to help this industry, or is she going to wait until there are no newspapers left before she wakes up?
Mr. Speaker, given the cloud of ethical scandals that seem to grow worse every day, I have a simple question for the Prime Minister. Does he still have confidence in his finance minister?
Mr. Speaker, I feel rather bad for the opposition members because we are managing a growing economy for the middle class, providing families with benefits that make a huge difference, and launching a national housing strategy that is being praised across the country.We are not giving opposition members many reasons to criticize our actions. They feel they need to make personal attacks, and that is truly unfortunate for our democracy, our government, and our country.
Mr. Speaker, the government promised a client-focused CRA, and all we have so far are tax increases on type 1 diabetics, half-baked plans for taxes on retail employees, misinformation, and busy signals.Now there are reports that the CRA is auditing single moms and telling them to get expensive separation agreements, and then telling that it is not good enough, and withholding their child benefits.When will the minister stop attacking ordinary, honest Canadians who are just trying to comply, and receive the credits and benefits to which they are entitled?
Mr. Speaker, this morning in committee, the deputy minister responsible for fixing the Phoenix fiasco said that IBM did not make any mistakes in creating and implementing the pay system. On the contrary, the company merely did what it was asked to do. In other words, all the blame lies with whoever is managing the project, namely this government. If the government did not know what it was doing when it implemented Phoenix, how can we expect it to fix this disaster? It is time to work with the real experts: our public servants and unions.
Mr. Speaker, while other shipyards in Canada are unable to turn out a ship, Davie delivers the goods. Yesterday, the Minister of National Defence said he had already ordered two more supply ships to meet the navy's needs. The problem is that Seaspan cannot start building them until 2023 and cannot deliver them until 2027. It will take 10 years to get the ships that Davie could build and deliver by 2019. Why is the government refusing to award contracts to Davie when this is the only sensible solution?
Mr. Speaker, I do not exactly blame the NDP for not remembering the 2015 election. It was a pretty bad one for them. However, we were very clear throughout the entire campaign that we were going to lower taxes for the middle class and raise taxes on the wealthiest 1%. That is exactly what we did. The NDP have some theory about non-disclosure. It simply does not apply. We have anchored ourselves in telling people what we are going to do, and are doing it. It is working. We have the strongest growth in the G7 because of our finance minister and because of the plan.
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times in the House for the member's benefit, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner and has always followed her recommendations. If he wants other facts, I can give him some. For example, real GDP growth was 1.6% during the 10 years they were in power. That is the worst performance since Mackenzie King. Average annual employment growth was 1%, the worst since the Second World War. He wants other facts, so here they are: growth was 3.7% last year, the best growth in the G7 for Canada. In addition, 500,000 jobs were created in the last two years, and there was a 40% drop in child poverty. That is the work our government has done.
Mr. Speaker, somebody avoided paying the higher taxes that the finance minister imposed by selling those 680,000 shares before those measures took place. Someone sold those shares before the new tax measures were tabled in this House of Commons. It was either the minister, and he does not think there was anything wrong with that, or it was not the minister, and he could just say that. We have repeated everything that was said in the House outside the House. The Liberals have refused to answer questions in the House or outside. Will the Prime Minister answer the question, who sold those shares in December?
Mr. Speaker, we can see that Stephen Harper's Conservative Party is alive and well. They are doubling down on the same approaches they had in the last election, the same approaches that Canadians rejected. I wish them luck.
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party learned nothing from the last election and the lessons Canadians taught them. They ran an election on snitch lines against Muslims, they ran an election on Islamophobia and division, and still they play the same games, trying to scare Canadians. The fact is we always focus on the security of Canadians, and we always will. They play the politics of fear, and Canadians reject that.
Mr. Speaker
Mr. Speaker, the NDP has asked the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner to launch another investigation into the Minister of Finance and the suspicious sale of Morneau Shepell shares in November 2015. If the commissioner decides to open an investigation, it will be the fourth investigation of members of this government, including two involving the Minister of Finance and one involving the Prime Minister.In his mandate letter to the Minister of Finance, the Prime Minister stated, ...the arrangement of your private affairs should bear the closest public scrutiny.When will the Prime Minister follow the rules that he himself established?
Mr. Speaker, yesterday John Ivison indicated that he received some documents showing that the sale of the 680,000 shares by the minister would have happened on December 3. December 3 would be the settlement date for a sale that would have happened on November 30. We know that such a sale occurred by somebody, and that somebody avoided a five per cent drop in Morneau Shepell shares, which happened after he introduced his motion.Can the minister confirm that he was the one who sold that block of stock?
Mr. Speaker, I am dedicated to ensuring that Canadians, especially the most vulnerable, get the benefits they are entitled to. That is a key part of my mandate. The CRA has never set out to make life more difficult for anyone. We realize that some people cannot provide all of the information needed for the agency to review their files. People grappling with situations like that should contact the CRA for help.
Mr. Speaker, as I said, I am dedicated to ensuring that Canadians, especially the most vulnerable, get the benefits they are entitled to. That is an absolutely key part of my mandate. I can assure my colleague that the CRA does not withhold the Canada child benefit for want of a spouse's signature. I want to emphasize that the CRA would not require potential beneficiaries to communicate with an abusive spouse.
Mr. Speaker, on the front lawn of this building is a $5.6 million example of the Liberals' outlandish abuse of taxpayers' dollars.The Prime Minister commissioned this arena, and it will be open for a very short period of time. The public is only going to have access for 45 minutes, which, quite frankly, is going to be a bit of a relief, because according to the rules, all one is allowed to do is go around, around, and around.How can the Prime Minister justify this expense that will be on the backs of our grandchildren and children?
Mr. Speaker, now we are back to everything was done with the Ethics Commissioner. I wonder if the minister told the Ethics Commissioner that he was going to sell $10 million of shares in stocks that would drop only a week later when he introduced a bill affecting the entire stock market.I will ask that question directly. Did the minister discuss the date of the sale of the shares along with the date of his motion on taxes?
Mr. Speaker, the finance minister lowered taxes for the middle class and raised them on the wealthiest 1%. He delivered on a Canada child benefit that is helping nine out of 10 Canadian families and reducing child poverty by 40%. He strengthened the CPP for a generation with a historic agreement with the provinces. He has lowered small business taxes to 9%. He continues to focus on the things that matter to Canadians and he has our full confidence.
Mr. Speaker, despite the Liberals' promises, several hundred pyrrhotite victims have not been compensated. Furthermore, several hundred more do not even have a hope of obtaining compensation. They are caught in a grey area as they do not qualify for assistance because the federal standards for aggregates used in concrete are vague. Since the entire Mauricie community has been asking for this standard to be reviewed for years, how can the government revise the building code and refuse to review the standard for pyrrhotite content in concrete?
Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that more than 30 local and community newspapers across the country will be shut down. The heritage minister has been talking the talk about the news industry crisis. She had options, yet she did nothing to prevent this disaster. Now she is saying she will study the issue, but with no action, frankly, there will not be much left to study. How can she sit back and do nothing as nearly 300 people lose their jobs? What will the minister say to her colleague the member for Orléans and his constituents when Orleans News shuts down?
Mr. Speaker, here are the facts: in December 2015, the Minister of Finance still owned thousands of shares in Morneau Shepell. On November 30, 2015, someone just happened to sell 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares worth $10 million. On December 7, one week later, the minister introduced tax measures that resulted in a 5% drop in the stock market, allowing this individual to make half a million dollars.Given that the Minister of Finance owned Morneau Shepell at that time, can he tell us who sold these shares?
Mr. Speaker, our government has demonstrated a level of transparency, openness, and accountability that was completely unheard of during the days of the former government. We will continue to work with the Ethics Commissioner. We will continue to answer all the questions. We will continue to show that we are working hard every day to remain worthy of the trust that Canadians have put in us.
Mr. Speaker, the member says that the tax change was promised. So was electoral reform; so was the $10-billion deficit that suddenly became $20 billion; and so was the tax on stock options that never happened. Promises mean nothing. Motions in the House of Commons move markets, and only the minister knew when he would introduce that motion and was able to predict what impact it would have on stock markets.Someone sold 680,000 shares prior to the introduction of that motion, saving a half-million dollars. Who was it?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times in the House, all members and all ministers are expected to work with the Ethics Commissioner to ensure that the rules governing us are followed. That is exactly what the Minister of Finance did as soon as he arrived in Ottawa. He announced that he was putting all his assets in a blind trust and that he was divesting himself of his remaining shares in Morneau Shepell. He also announced that he was donating to charity any difference in the value of those shares since the election.
Mr. Speaker, in November 2015, someone sold a whole lot of Morneau Shepell shares and in the process saved a whole lot of money. Either the finance minister does not know who sold them, knows who sold them and it was not him, or knows who sold them and it was him. It is one of three answers. It is very simple. There should be no more threats from the Liberals. I do not think they are in any position to threaten us. They should just answer the question.
Mr. Speaker, in the past few months, there have been more than 60 cases of opioid overdoses in Montreal. The crisis has even reached Laval, where at least 10 more overdoses have occurred. The crisis is only getting worse across Canada. For a year now, the NDP has been calling on the Liberal government to treat the opioid crisis as a national emergency, so that communities in need can access more resources.With seven people dying every day, what is this government waiting for to declare that the opioid crisis has become a national emergency?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner. He has always said that he was completely transparent with her in disclosing his assets, following her recommendations, and upholding the highest standards of integrity. He will always work with the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, I find it strange that the Prime Minister is telling me that quoting from his own mandate letter to the Minister of Finance constitutes a personal attack. I think that what the Prime Minister should do is what he himself said when he was in opposition. In 2013 he said: Canadians deserve leaders who tell the truth. Leaders take responsibility when things go well but also when things go wrong. Why is the Prime Minister of 2017 not listening to the member for Papineau of 2013, not assuming his responsibilities, and not coming clean with Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, with $5.6 million how many outdoor skating rinks could we renew across Canada to get young children and their families to skate for the next 25 years?Instead of fuelling this Prime Minister's boundless egocentrism, why did this Prime Minister and the Minister of Canadian Heritage not consider investing all that money into several skating rinks. Instead of skating on just one temporary outdoor rink to the tune of $5.6 million for the sake of a photo op on New Year's Eve
Mr. Speaker, nobody voted in the last election to elect a government that would be so focused on the rights of ISIS terrorists, people who watch soldiers burned alive in cages, people who sell women and girls into slavery. When people like that come home, they do not need to spend time writing haikus; they need to spend time in jail. When will the Prime Minister take this seriously?
Mr. Speaker, CSIS warned the Liberal government all the way back in 2015 that returning ISIS fighters were a continuing and real threat to Canada. It warned that Canadian citizens were recruited by ISIS [not] because they needed more foot soldiers...but because they want to teach the Westerners to take the struggle into every neighbourhood and subway back home. ISIS specifically trained Canadian fighters to come back here and terrorize our community, and the Liberals have known about it for over two years.Why is the Prime Minister so focused on reintegration services and not putting these people in jail?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always been transparent in his dealings with the Ethics Commissioner by following her recommendations, including setting up a conflict of interest screen, which she thought was the best possible measure of compliance.As the member for Beauce knows, the minister announced that he would go the extra mile by divesting himself of the rest of his shares in Morneau Shepell and placing all his assets in a blind trust.
Mr. Speaker, this minister, like all members of this House, worked with the Ethics Commissioner exactly to avoid any conflicts like this. The Ethics Commissioner exists above the back-and-forth of Parliament to ensure that people are following the rules and that mistakes are not made. That is exactly the job that she has been fulfilling, and that is exactly where Canadians can be reassured that, despite the personal attacks of the members opposite, the Ethics Commissioner is being followed.
Mr. Speaker, devastating news out of Alberta reveals a 40% increase in opioid deaths this year and Canada will lose 3,000 lives in 2017. Families affected by this crisis are growing dismayed by the Prime Minister's glacial response. In fact, Moms Stop the Harm has started the Do Something Prime Minister Photo Campaign by sending photos of lost loved ones to the PMO.The Prime Minister has ignored our call to declare the opioid crisis a national public health emergency. How many more Canadians need to die before he finally listens?
Mr. Speaker, ever since he took office here in Ottawa, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner. He made sure he acted on her recommendations, including her advice to set up a conflict of interest screen. He announced that he had sold all of his shares in Morneau Shepell and that he was putting all of his assets in a blind trust in order to continue the important work he does for Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of people who are watching question period, perhaps for the first time, across the country. The fact is that it is an opportunity to talk about substantive issues of the time that affect Canadians in terms of policy. The members opposite choose to go with personal attacks.A handy way of evaluating if those personal attacks are baseless or groundless is whether the members opposite are willing to repeat them outside this House where there is no parliamentary privilege. What we see here is Stephen Harper's party, through and through.
Mr. Speaker, earlier in question period, the Prime Minister said that his government is transparent, accountable, and trustworthy. Those are his words. This is a good opportunity to prove it.On December 7, the Minister of Finance introduced a tax policy that had a direct impact on the stock market and resulted in a 5% drop in the share price of his own company, Morneau Shepell. However, 680,000 shares had been sold a few days earlier on November 30, saving someone half a million dollars. To prove that he is transparent, accountable, and trustworthy, could the Prime Minister tell us if the person who sold those shares was the Minister of Finance?
Mr. Speaker, as the member already knows, the person responsible for enforcing the highest standards of integrity in the House is the Ethics Commissioner. It is with the Ethics Commissioner that the Minister of Finance has always been fully transparent by giving her his full co-operation to ensure that the rules are followed. That is what is expected of all members and all ministers, and that is what the Minister of Finance has always done.
Mr. Speaker, he was fined by the Ethics Commissioner for hiding offshore corporations, he is under investigation by the Ethics Commissioner for introducing pension legislation that benefited himself and his family, and he has been misleading Canadians as to whether he actually divested himself of the shares he owns, and now questions are being raised about the sale of $10-million worth of Morneau Shepell shares just days before he introduced tax measures that would drastically affect the market.I have one quick question for the Prime Minister. Can we expect his finance minister to deliver the next budget?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for SurreyNewton for the great work he is doing in his riding. We had 175 participants, 85 small and medium-sized businesses, and 300 meetings over five days in five cities. I was honoured to lead this historic mission, the biggest Canadian trade mission to India. During our mission, Canadian companies got to showcase their talents and expertise in various sectors like innovation and clean tech, while making numerous new connections. We will continue to have an ambitious trade agenda and make trade work for people.
Mr. Speaker, last week, I announced that the Canada 150 skating rink will remain open until the end of February for the 40th anniversary of Winterlude. This great legacy project, a skating rink in front of Parliament, is a first and the skating rink will be donated to a community in need, as my colleague said.There will be hockey games, ringuette, and sledge hockey for young and old, men and women alike. Thousands of people are expected in front of Parliament. I hope that my colleague will join me for the Canada 150 celebrations.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance, as I have already said, has been working with the Ethics Commissioner from the very beginning of his term. She is the one responsible, far from the partisanship that sometimes drives us in the House, to ensure that the rules and the highest standards of integrity are followed. The Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner and will continue to do so.
Mr. Speaker, the phoenix shows no signs of rising from the ashes. The problems continue.Now we learn there is no way to assess whether programs to prioritize the hiring of Canada's veterans are working. The government knew about this. It made promises, but still cannot claim an increased number of veterans in the public service because it has no way of knowing if, or how many, veterans have been hired.When will the government show veterans and public servants the respect they have earned, and fix the Phoenix problems?
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have tried to score political points with their so-called support for free speech at post-secondary institutions, yet there has not been a word from the Leader of the Opposition after a group was prevented last week from showing a pro-choice documentary on a university campus. It seems like he is only in favour of free speech when it is an opinion he agrees with.Could the Minister of Science please tell the House what our government's position is on this important issue?
Mr. Speaker our government is committed to creating open spaces for Canadians to debate and express their views. We also firmly support a woman's right to choose. In a free society, we may disagree with a person's views but we must defend the right to hold them unless those views promote hate.The opposition leader's silence suggests he will only stand up for free speech if it is politically convenient. We cannot cherry-pick on free speech.
Mr. Speaker, all Canadians want is simple answers to simple questions. If the minister has nothing to hide, all he has to do is answer this question. A week before he introduced tax measures affecting his own company, someone sold a block of 680,000 shares worth $10 million, neatly sidestepping a $500,000 loss when the stock market dropped.Here is the simple question. He owned the company. Can he tell us who sold that block of 680,000 shares?
Mr. Speaker, the navy is in the midst of the most comprehensive fleet modernization since peacetime in history. As part of the national shipbuilding strategy and under new defence policy, our government is acquiring fleet support ships to permanently replace the Protecteur class auxiliary oiler replenishment vessels. The project will deliver two vessels that will provide core replenishment, sealift capabilities, and support to our operations offshore. This government is committed to building new ships for the navy and to maintain Canada's naval capabilities over the long term.
Mr. Speaker, we recognize the excellent work of Davie employees. Over the past few weeks, our government has been in contact with Davie shipyard executives and the unions. The company has presented a bid, and we are in discussions.Since 2011, the government has invested over $7 billion in the Canadian shipbuilding industry, including $717 million in Quebec, as part of the national shipbuilding strategy.
Mr. Speaker, we need to make sure that Canadians have the skill and experience needed to work in today's economy. There are many well educated students graduating, but the common concern I hear from those in London North Centre is that they are unable to get their feet into the workforce without any work experience. This is a large gap that we must act to fill so as to ensure graduating students are successful. Can the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development please explain what he is doing to ensure that our graduates are ready for the workforce?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always been transparent with the Ethics Commissioner, who is responsible for safeguarding the integrity of Parliament. He followed her recommendations, and he will continue to do so and to work with the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his support for education and students. As the member well knows, our government supports lifelong learning. We support work-integrated learning, which is why we invested $221 million to create more workplace opportunities in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and in business programs. This investment will create 10,000 paid internships for Canadian students from coast to coast to coast. This is about creating good-quality jobs for students for today and tomorrow.
Mr. Speaker, our government is deeply concerned about the opioid crisis in Canada. We have taken several emergency measures on this issue, including significant federal investments, a new law, and expedited regulatory action.Going forward, we will be working with the provinces and territories to expand access to treatment, support innovative approaches, and respond to this crisis. We will fight against the stigma of opioid use.
Mr. Speaker, last night I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion with this particular opposition member, and I noticed that he was very careful not to repeat any of the allegations he is making here outside this chamber. If they are as justified as he claims, I invite him to repeat them outside this chamber.What I can say is that the tax measures he is referring to raised taxes for the wealthiest 1% and cut them for nine million Canadians. This was a promise we made during the election campaign, and I am very proud of it.
Mr. Speaker, I am sure the finance minister has been pretty busy lately sorting out his ethical lapses, and raising taxes on Canadians while sheltering his own from taxes. His mind has been pretty preoccupied. Maybe that is why yesterday he could not quite remember what he did in November 2015. However, 24 hours have passed and I am hoping the Prime Minister may have spoken with his finance minister.Can the Prime Minister tell us if the finance minister sold 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell in November 2015, yes or no?
Mr. Speaker, SurreyNewton has many small and medium-sized businesses that trade with India every day. BI Pure Water, a Surrey-based business that focuses on clean tech, was part of the trade mission led by the Minister of International Trade to India earlier this month. Businesses like this benefit greatly from trade missions where they meet with companies to build stronger relationships. I ask the minister to update the House on his
Mr. Speaker, I think the member misunderstood my response. I asked if he was prepared to repeat the allegations, not the questions. He knows exactly what allegations he made yesterday in the House.I can assure everyone that the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. He will remember that in the Trudeau government's first budget we included $30 million for the victims, $10 million a year
Mr. Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to remind members that it was the current Minister of Finance who put $30 million in the first federal budget for compensation for pyrrhotite victims in Mauricie. When we speak with the victims, it is obvious that they are aware that the government is acting in their best interests.
Mr. Speaker, this government, like all governments, takes extremely seriously the safety of Canadians, and that is why everything we do is focused on keeping Canadians safe. We know that a society that is safe is one in which we are using a broad range of tools to keep Canadians safe. Yes, we have enforcement, surveillance, and national security tools that we use to a significant degree, but we also have methods of de-emphasizing or deprogramming people who want to harm our society, and those are some of the things we have to move forward on.
Mr. Speaker, as I have stated, the navy is currently in the midst of the most comprehensive fleet modernization in its peacetime history. Work is under way on the two joint supply ships that Seaspan is building. Because of some of the delays, the interim ship was required, and we thank Davie for its tremendous work in filling this interim capability gap.
Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely right: we did do a panel yesterday, at which point, outside of the walls of this House, I asked when the Minister of Finance sold his 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell. I also enumerated all the facts leading up to that sale, and I am absolutely confident that everything I have said out there and in here is true. Would he commit that, if I go out and repeat my question in the lobby at this moment, the finance minister will meet me there and answer the question?
Mr. Speaker, perhaps my colleague would benefit from being reminded that the tax measure he referred to is a tax increase for the wealthiest 1% and a tax cut for nine million Canadians. Our plan to do that was the worst-kept secret in town, because it was one of our campaign promises, and we keep our promises. Our promises have enabled Canada to achieve the highest growth in the G7 and have given some breathing room to families that need it, and I am very proud of that.
Mr. Speaker, all Canadians know that the minister sometimes forgets things. For two years, he forgot that he owned a villa in Provence. Now, he seems to have forgotten who sold 680,000 shares in his company, worth $10 million. Just now, referring to the Minister of Finance, the parliamentary secretary said, and I quote: he sold all his shares. Can the parliamentary secretary tell us when the Minister of Finance sold all his shares?
Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to announce last week that the Canada 150 rink will be open through the 40th anniversary of Winterlude and until the end of February. This will be a great legacy project, a first in front of Parliament Hill. Afterward, the rink will be given to a community in need. There will be hockey, ringette, sledge hockey for children and adult men and women, and many other activities. Thousands of Canadians will enjoy the delights of this great rink.I invite my colleague to put on her skates. It will be a pleasure for me to go and skate with her.
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner, who is responsible for preserving the integrity of Parliament. That duty does not fall to the opposition, which seems to consider itself judge and jury. It is up to the Ethics Commissioner, who acts impartially and with integrity. We have confidence in the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, my colleague said that the minister works with the Ethics Commissioner. If that is true, did he ask the Ethics Commissioner for permission before selling 680,000 shares in his family company, which allowed him to make a $500,000 profit, since the value of those shares dropped by 75¢ seven days later?Did the Minister of Finance inform the Ethics Commissioner of his intention to sell his company shares in November 2015, yes or no?
Mr. Speaker, the government supported our motion that deplores the loss of 800 jobs at the Davie shipyard, but it is not doing anything more. Quebec's labour minister has said that someone needs to wake up and make sure that the shipyard gets what it is entitled to. Forty Quebec Liberals are asleep at the switch on the other side of the House. It is all well and good to deplore the loss of 800 jobs, but it seems all the government is doing is shedding crocodile tears. This week, another 350 jobs will be lost.Does the government care? Is it going to do something?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said, the Minister of Finance always worked with the Ethics Commissioner. He will continue to do so, but I do appreciate the opportunity to talk about the tax measures that were announced in December 2015, which fulfilled a commitment that we made during the election campaign, namely to raise taxes for the wealthiest 1%.I know that it is a fairly strange idea for the opposition party, which focused on giving tax breaks to the wealthy during the 10 years they were in power. We cut taxes for 9 million Canadians, and we introduced the Canada child benefit to reduce inequality in this country. This is a record that I am proud of.
Mr. Speaker, there is no question that there are many who have suffered under Phoenix system, and veterans are certainly some of those.We are doing our level best to identify those who have been affected, and we are asking some of them to come forward. It does make it difficult, because we do need a head count on these individuals. However, I can say that these officials are working diligently on the matter. We ask those veterans who have not come forward and who have been affected by Phoenix to please do so, and we will do our level best to help.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Morneau's office confirmed to the National Post that someone sold more than 680 shares
Mr. Speaker, I am quite pleased with the question from the opposition member, who has given me the opportunity to talk about this tax measure that he is referring to. What is this tax measure? It is to raise taxes for the wealthiest 1% and to cut them for 9 million Canadians, and it is the Canada child benefit that we have made more progressive than ever. Under the Conservatives, not only was it taxable, but it was also sent to all families, regardless of income. We have introduced more fairness into our tax system to give more to those families who need it the most, and I am proud of that.
Most positive speeches
Mr. Speaker, I am quite pleased with the question from the opposition member, who has given me the opportunity to talk about this tax measure that he is referring to. What is this tax measure? It is to raise taxes for the wealthiest 1% and to cut them for 9 million Canadians, and it is the Canada child benefit that we have made more progressive than ever. Under the Conservatives, not only was it taxable, but it was also sent to all families, regardless of income. We have introduced more fairness into our tax system to give more to those families who need it the most, and I am proud of that.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Morneau's office confirmed to the National Post that someone sold more than 680 shares
Mr. Speaker, there is no question that there are many who have suffered under Phoenix system, and veterans are certainly some of those.We are doing our level best to identify those who have been affected, and we are asking some of them to come forward. It does make it difficult, because we do need a head count on these individuals. However, I can say that these officials are working diligently on the matter. We ask those veterans who have not come forward and who have been affected by Phoenix to please do so, and we will do our level best to help.
Mr. Speaker, as I have said, the Minister of Finance always worked with the Ethics Commissioner. He will continue to do so, but I do appreciate the opportunity to talk about the tax measures that were announced in December 2015, which fulfilled a commitment that we made during the election campaign, namely to raise taxes for the wealthiest 1%.I know that it is a fairly strange idea for the opposition party, which focused on giving tax breaks to the wealthy during the 10 years they were in power. We cut taxes for 9 million Canadians, and we introduced the Canada child benefit to reduce inequality in this country. This is a record that I am proud of.
Mr. Speaker, the government supported our motion that deplores the loss of 800 jobs at the Davie shipyard, but it is not doing anything more. Quebec's labour minister has said that someone needs to wake up and make sure that the shipyard gets what it is entitled to. Forty Quebec Liberals are asleep at the switch on the other side of the House. It is all well and good to deplore the loss of 800 jobs, but it seems all the government is doing is shedding crocodile tears. This week, another 350 jobs will be lost.Does the government care? Is it going to do something?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner, who is responsible for preserving the integrity of Parliament. That duty does not fall to the opposition, which seems to consider itself judge and jury. It is up to the Ethics Commissioner, who acts impartially and with integrity. We have confidence in the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, my colleague said that the minister works with the Ethics Commissioner. If that is true, did he ask the Ethics Commissioner for permission before selling 680,000 shares in his family company, which allowed him to make a $500,000 profit, since the value of those shares dropped by 75¢ seven days later?Did the Minister of Finance inform the Ethics Commissioner of his intention to sell his company shares in November 2015, yes or no?
Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to announce last week that the Canada 150 rink will be open through the 40th anniversary of Winterlude and until the end of February. This will be a great legacy project, a first in front of Parliament Hill. Afterward, the rink will be given to a community in need. There will be hockey, ringette, sledge hockey for children and adult men and women, and many other activities. Thousands of Canadians will enjoy the delights of this great rink.I invite my colleague to put on her skates. It will be a pleasure for me to go and skate with her.
Mr. Speaker, perhaps my colleague would benefit from being reminded that the tax measure he referred to is a tax increase for the wealthiest 1% and a tax cut for nine million Canadians. Our plan to do that was the worst-kept secret in town, because it was one of our campaign promises, and we keep our promises. Our promises have enabled Canada to achieve the highest growth in the G7 and have given some breathing room to families that need it, and I am very proud of that.
Mr. Speaker, all Canadians know that the minister sometimes forgets things. For two years, he forgot that he owned a villa in Provence. Now, he seems to have forgotten who sold 680,000 shares in his company, worth $10 million. Just now, referring to the Minister of Finance, the parliamentary secretary said, and I quote: he sold all his shares. Can the parliamentary secretary tell us when the Minister of Finance sold all his shares?
Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely right: we did do a panel yesterday, at which point, outside of the walls of this House, I asked when the Minister of Finance sold his 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell. I also enumerated all the facts leading up to that sale, and I am absolutely confident that everything I have said out there and in here is true. Would he commit that, if I go out and repeat my question in the lobby at this moment, the finance minister will meet me there and answer the question?
Mr. Speaker, as I have stated, the navy is currently in the midst of the most comprehensive fleet modernization in its peacetime history. Work is under way on the two joint supply ships that Seaspan is building. Because of some of the delays, the interim ship was required, and we thank Davie for its tremendous work in filling this interim capability gap.
Mr. Speaker, this government, like all governments, takes extremely seriously the safety of Canadians, and that is why everything we do is focused on keeping Canadians safe. We know that a society that is safe is one in which we are using a broad range of tools to keep Canadians safe. Yes, we have enforcement, surveillance, and national security tools that we use to a significant degree, but we also have methods of de-emphasizing or deprogramming people who want to harm our society, and those are some of the things we have to move forward on.
Mr. Speaker, I think the member misunderstood my response. I asked if he was prepared to repeat the allegations, not the questions. He knows exactly what allegations he made yesterday in the House.I can assure everyone that the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. He will remember that in the Trudeau government's first budget we included $30 million for the victims, $10 million a year
Mr. Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to remind members that it was the current Minister of Finance who put $30 million in the first federal budget for compensation for pyrrhotite victims in Mauricie. When we speak with the victims, it is obvious that they are aware that the government is acting in their best interests.
Mr. Speaker, SurreyNewton has many small and medium-sized businesses that trade with India every day. BI Pure Water, a Surrey-based business that focuses on clean tech, was part of the trade mission led by the Minister of International Trade to India earlier this month. Businesses like this benefit greatly from trade missions where they meet with companies to build stronger relationships. I ask the minister to update the House on his
Mr. Speaker, I am sure the finance minister has been pretty busy lately sorting out his ethical lapses, and raising taxes on Canadians while sheltering his own from taxes. His mind has been pretty preoccupied. Maybe that is why yesterday he could not quite remember what he did in November 2015. However, 24 hours have passed and I am hoping the Prime Minister may have spoken with his finance minister.Can the Prime Minister tell us if the finance minister sold 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell in November 2015, yes or no?
Mr. Speaker, last night I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion with this particular opposition member, and I noticed that he was very careful not to repeat any of the allegations he is making here outside this chamber. If they are as justified as he claims, I invite him to repeat them outside this chamber.What I can say is that the tax measures he is referring to raised taxes for the wealthiest 1% and cut them for nine million Canadians. This was a promise we made during the election campaign, and I am very proud of it.
Mr. Speaker, our government is deeply concerned about the opioid crisis in Canada. We have taken several emergency measures on this issue, including significant federal investments, a new law, and expedited regulatory action.Going forward, we will be working with the provinces and territories to expand access to treatment, support innovative approaches, and respond to this crisis. We will fight against the stigma of opioid use.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always been transparent with the Ethics Commissioner, who is responsible for safeguarding the integrity of Parliament. He followed her recommendations, and he will continue to do so and to work with the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his support for education and students. As the member well knows, our government supports lifelong learning. We support work-integrated learning, which is why we invested $221 million to create more workplace opportunities in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and in business programs. This investment will create 10,000 paid internships for Canadian students from coast to coast to coast. This is about creating good-quality jobs for students for today and tomorrow.
Mr. Speaker, we need to make sure that Canadians have the skill and experience needed to work in today's economy. There are many well educated students graduating, but the common concern I hear from those in London North Centre is that they are unable to get their feet into the workforce without any work experience. This is a large gap that we must act to fill so as to ensure graduating students are successful. Can the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development please explain what he is doing to ensure that our graduates are ready for the workforce?
Mr. Speaker, we recognize the excellent work of Davie employees. Over the past few weeks, our government has been in contact with Davie shipyard executives and the unions. The company has presented a bid, and we are in discussions.Since 2011, the government has invested over $7 billion in the Canadian shipbuilding industry, including $717 million in Quebec, as part of the national shipbuilding strategy.
Mr. Speaker, the navy is in the midst of the most comprehensive fleet modernization since peacetime in history. As part of the national shipbuilding strategy and under new defence policy, our government is acquiring fleet support ships to permanently replace the Protecteur class auxiliary oiler replenishment vessels. The project will deliver two vessels that will provide core replenishment, sealift capabilities, and support to our operations offshore. This government is committed to building new ships for the navy and to maintain Canada's naval capabilities over the long term.
Mr. Speaker, all Canadians want is simple answers to simple questions. If the minister has nothing to hide, all he has to do is answer this question. A week before he introduced tax measures affecting his own company, someone sold a block of 680,000 shares worth $10 million, neatly sidestepping a $500,000 loss when the stock market dropped.Here is the simple question. He owned the company. Can he tell us who sold that block of 680,000 shares?
Mr. Speaker our government is committed to creating open spaces for Canadians to debate and express their views. We also firmly support a woman's right to choose. In a free society, we may disagree with a person's views but we must defend the right to hold them unless those views promote hate.The opposition leader's silence suggests he will only stand up for free speech if it is politically convenient. We cannot cherry-pick on free speech.
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have tried to score political points with their so-called support for free speech at post-secondary institutions, yet there has not been a word from the Leader of the Opposition after a group was prevented last week from showing a pro-choice documentary on a university campus. It seems like he is only in favour of free speech when it is an opinion he agrees with.Could the Minister of Science please tell the House what our government's position is on this important issue?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance, as I have already said, has been working with the Ethics Commissioner from the very beginning of his term. She is the one responsible, far from the partisanship that sometimes drives us in the House, to ensure that the rules and the highest standards of integrity are followed. The Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner and will continue to do so.
Mr. Speaker, the phoenix shows no signs of rising from the ashes. The problems continue.Now we learn there is no way to assess whether programs to prioritize the hiring of Canada's veterans are working. The government knew about this. It made promises, but still cannot claim an increased number of veterans in the public service because it has no way of knowing if, or how many, veterans have been hired.When will the government show veterans and public servants the respect they have earned, and fix the Phoenix problems?
Mr. Speaker, last week, I announced that the Canada 150 skating rink will remain open until the end of February for the 40th anniversary of Winterlude. This great legacy project, a skating rink in front of Parliament, is a first and the skating rink will be donated to a community in need, as my colleague said.There will be hockey games, ringuette, and sledge hockey for young and old, men and women alike. Thousands of people are expected in front of Parliament. I hope that my colleague will join me for the Canada 150 celebrations.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for SurreyNewton for the great work he is doing in his riding. We had 175 participants, 85 small and medium-sized businesses, and 300 meetings over five days in five cities. I was honoured to lead this historic mission, the biggest Canadian trade mission to India. During our mission, Canadian companies got to showcase their talents and expertise in various sectors like innovation and clean tech, while making numerous new connections. We will continue to have an ambitious trade agenda and make trade work for people.
Mr. Speaker, he was fined by the Ethics Commissioner for hiding offshore corporations, he is under investigation by the Ethics Commissioner for introducing pension legislation that benefited himself and his family, and he has been misleading Canadians as to whether he actually divested himself of the shares he owns, and now questions are being raised about the sale of $10-million worth of Morneau Shepell shares just days before he introduced tax measures that would drastically affect the market.I have one quick question for the Prime Minister. Can we expect his finance minister to deliver the next budget?
Mr. Speaker, as the member already knows, the person responsible for enforcing the highest standards of integrity in the House is the Ethics Commissioner. It is with the Ethics Commissioner that the Minister of Finance has always been fully transparent by giving her his full co-operation to ensure that the rules are followed. That is what is expected of all members and all ministers, and that is what the Minister of Finance has always done.
Mr. Speaker, earlier in question period, the Prime Minister said that his government is transparent, accountable, and trustworthy. Those are his words. This is a good opportunity to prove it.On December 7, the Minister of Finance introduced a tax policy that had a direct impact on the stock market and resulted in a 5% drop in the share price of his own company, Morneau Shepell. However, 680,000 shares had been sold a few days earlier on November 30, saving someone half a million dollars. To prove that he is transparent, accountable, and trustworthy, could the Prime Minister tell us if the person who sold those shares was the Minister of Finance?
Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of people who are watching question period, perhaps for the first time, across the country. The fact is that it is an opportunity to talk about substantive issues of the time that affect Canadians in terms of policy. The members opposite choose to go with personal attacks.A handy way of evaluating if those personal attacks are baseless or groundless is whether the members opposite are willing to repeat them outside this House where there is no parliamentary privilege. What we see here is Stephen Harper's party, through and through.
Mr. Speaker, ever since he took office here in Ottawa, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner. He made sure he acted on her recommendations, including her advice to set up a conflict of interest screen. He announced that he had sold all of his shares in Morneau Shepell and that he was putting all of his assets in a blind trust in order to continue the important work he does for Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, devastating news out of Alberta reveals a 40% increase in opioid deaths this year and Canada will lose 3,000 lives in 2017. Families affected by this crisis are growing dismayed by the Prime Minister's glacial response. In fact, Moms Stop the Harm has started the Do Something Prime Minister Photo Campaign by sending photos of lost loved ones to the PMO.The Prime Minister has ignored our call to declare the opioid crisis a national public health emergency. How many more Canadians need to die before he finally listens?
Mr. Speaker, this minister, like all members of this House, worked with the Ethics Commissioner exactly to avoid any conflicts like this. The Ethics Commissioner exists above the back-and-forth of Parliament to ensure that people are following the rules and that mistakes are not made. That is exactly the job that she has been fulfilling, and that is exactly where Canadians can be reassured that, despite the personal attacks of the members opposite, the Ethics Commissioner is being followed.
Mr. Speaker, CSIS warned the Liberal government all the way back in 2015 that returning ISIS fighters were a continuing and real threat to Canada. It warned that Canadian citizens were recruited by ISIS [not] because they needed more foot soldiers...but because they want to teach the Westerners to take the struggle into every neighbourhood and subway back home. ISIS specifically trained Canadian fighters to come back here and terrorize our community, and the Liberals have known about it for over two years.Why is the Prime Minister so focused on reintegration services and not putting these people in jail?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always been transparent in his dealings with the Ethics Commissioner by following her recommendations, including setting up a conflict of interest screen, which she thought was the best possible measure of compliance.As the member for Beauce knows, the minister announced that he would go the extra mile by divesting himself of the rest of his shares in Morneau Shepell and placing all his assets in a blind trust.
Mr. Speaker, nobody voted in the last election to elect a government that would be so focused on the rights of ISIS terrorists, people who watch soldiers burned alive in cages, people who sell women and girls into slavery. When people like that come home, they do not need to spend time writing haikus; they need to spend time in jail. When will the Prime Minister take this seriously?
Mr. Speaker, with $5.6 million how many outdoor skating rinks could we renew across Canada to get young children and their families to skate for the next 25 years?Instead of fuelling this Prime Minister's boundless egocentrism, why did this Prime Minister and the Minister of Canadian Heritage not consider investing all that money into several skating rinks. Instead of skating on just one temporary outdoor rink to the tune of $5.6 million for the sake of a photo op on New Year's Eve
Mr. Speaker, I find it strange that the Prime Minister is telling me that quoting from his own mandate letter to the Minister of Finance constitutes a personal attack. I think that what the Prime Minister should do is what he himself said when he was in opposition. In 2013 he said: Canadians deserve leaders who tell the truth. Leaders take responsibility when things go well but also when things go wrong. Why is the Prime Minister of 2017 not listening to the member for Papineau of 2013, not assuming his responsibilities, and not coming clean with Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner. He has always said that he was completely transparent with her in disclosing his assets, following her recommendations, and upholding the highest standards of integrity. He will always work with the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, in the past few months, there have been more than 60 cases of opioid overdoses in Montreal. The crisis has even reached Laval, where at least 10 more overdoses have occurred. The crisis is only getting worse across Canada. For a year now, the NDP has been calling on the Liberal government to treat the opioid crisis as a national emergency, so that communities in need can access more resources.With seven people dying every day, what is this government waiting for to declare that the opioid crisis has become a national emergency?
Mr. Speaker, the member says that the tax change was promised. So was electoral reform; so was the $10-billion deficit that suddenly became $20 billion; and so was the tax on stock options that never happened. Promises mean nothing. Motions in the House of Commons move markets, and only the minister knew when he would introduce that motion and was able to predict what impact it would have on stock markets.Someone sold 680,000 shares prior to the introduction of that motion, saving a half-million dollars. Who was it?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times in the House, all members and all ministers are expected to work with the Ethics Commissioner to ensure that the rules governing us are followed. That is exactly what the Minister of Finance did as soon as he arrived in Ottawa. He announced that he was putting all his assets in a blind trust and that he was divesting himself of his remaining shares in Morneau Shepell. He also announced that he was donating to charity any difference in the value of those shares since the election.
Mr. Speaker, in November 2015, someone sold a whole lot of Morneau Shepell shares and in the process saved a whole lot of money. Either the finance minister does not know who sold them, knows who sold them and it was not him, or knows who sold them and it was him. It is one of three answers. It is very simple. There should be no more threats from the Liberals. I do not think they are in any position to threaten us. They should just answer the question.
Mr. Speaker, our government has demonstrated a level of transparency, openness, and accountability that was completely unheard of during the days of the former government. We will continue to work with the Ethics Commissioner. We will continue to answer all the questions. We will continue to show that we are working hard every day to remain worthy of the trust that Canadians have put in us.
Mr. Speaker, here are the facts: in December 2015, the Minister of Finance still owned thousands of shares in Morneau Shepell. On November 30, 2015, someone just happened to sell 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares worth $10 million. On December 7, one week later, the minister introduced tax measures that resulted in a 5% drop in the stock market, allowing this individual to make half a million dollars.Given that the Minister of Finance owned Morneau Shepell at that time, can he tell us who sold these shares?
Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that more than 30 local and community newspapers across the country will be shut down. The heritage minister has been talking the talk about the news industry crisis. She had options, yet she did nothing to prevent this disaster. Now she is saying she will study the issue, but with no action, frankly, there will not be much left to study. How can she sit back and do nothing as nearly 300 people lose their jobs? What will the minister say to her colleague the member for Orléans and his constituents when Orleans News shuts down?
Mr. Speaker, the finance minister lowered taxes for the middle class and raised them on the wealthiest 1%. He delivered on a Canada child benefit that is helping nine out of 10 Canadian families and reducing child poverty by 40%. He strengthened the CPP for a generation with a historic agreement with the provinces. He has lowered small business taxes to 9%. He continues to focus on the things that matter to Canadians and he has our full confidence.
Mr. Speaker, despite the Liberals' promises, several hundred pyrrhotite victims have not been compensated. Furthermore, several hundred more do not even have a hope of obtaining compensation. They are caught in a grey area as they do not qualify for assistance because the federal standards for aggregates used in concrete are vague. Since the entire Mauricie community has been asking for this standard to be reviewed for years, how can the government revise the building code and refuse to review the standard for pyrrhotite content in concrete?
Mr. Speaker, now we are back to everything was done with the Ethics Commissioner. I wonder if the minister told the Ethics Commissioner that he was going to sell $10 million of shares in stocks that would drop only a week later when he introduced a bill affecting the entire stock market.I will ask that question directly. Did the minister discuss the date of the sale of the shares along with the date of his motion on taxes?
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party learned nothing from the last election and the lessons Canadians taught them. They ran an election on snitch lines against Muslims, they ran an election on Islamophobia and division, and still they play the same games, trying to scare Canadians. The fact is we always focus on the security of Canadians, and we always will. They play the politics of fear, and Canadians reject that.
Mr. Speaker
Mr. Speaker, the NDP has asked the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner to launch another investigation into the Minister of Finance and the suspicious sale of Morneau Shepell shares in November 2015. If the commissioner decides to open an investigation, it will be the fourth investigation of members of this government, including two involving the Minister of Finance and one involving the Prime Minister.In his mandate letter to the Minister of Finance, the Prime Minister stated, ...the arrangement of your private affairs should bear the closest public scrutiny.When will the Prime Minister follow the rules that he himself established?
Mr. Speaker, yesterday John Ivison indicated that he received some documents showing that the sale of the 680,000 shares by the minister would have happened on December 3. December 3 would be the settlement date for a sale that would have happened on November 30. We know that such a sale occurred by somebody, and that somebody avoided a five per cent drop in Morneau Shepell shares, which happened after he introduced his motion.Can the minister confirm that he was the one who sold that block of stock?
Mr. Speaker, I am dedicated to ensuring that Canadians, especially the most vulnerable, get the benefits they are entitled to. That is a key part of my mandate. The CRA has never set out to make life more difficult for anyone. We realize that some people cannot provide all of the information needed for the agency to review their files. People grappling with situations like that should contact the CRA for help.
Mr. Speaker, as I said, I am dedicated to ensuring that Canadians, especially the most vulnerable, get the benefits they are entitled to. That is an absolutely key part of my mandate. I can assure my colleague that the CRA does not withhold the Canada child benefit for want of a spouse's signature. I want to emphasize that the CRA would not require potential beneficiaries to communicate with an abusive spouse.
Mr. Speaker, on the front lawn of this building is a $5.6 million example of the Liberals' outlandish abuse of taxpayers' dollars.The Prime Minister commissioned this arena, and it will be open for a very short period of time. The public is only going to have access for 45 minutes, which, quite frankly, is going to be a bit of a relief, because according to the rules, all one is allowed to do is go around, around, and around.How can the Prime Minister justify this expense that will be on the backs of our grandchildren and children?
Mr. Speaker, we can see that Stephen Harper's Conservative Party is alive and well. They are doubling down on the same approaches they had in the last election, the same approaches that Canadians rejected. I wish them luck.
Mr. Speaker, somebody avoided paying the higher taxes that the finance minister imposed by selling those 680,000 shares before those measures took place. Someone sold those shares before the new tax measures were tabled in this House of Commons. It was either the minister, and he does not think there was anything wrong with that, or it was not the minister, and he could just say that. We have repeated everything that was said in the House outside the House. The Liberals have refused to answer questions in the House or outside. Will the Prime Minister answer the question, who sold those shares in December?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times in the House for the member's benefit, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner and has always followed her recommendations. If he wants other facts, I can give him some. For example, real GDP growth was 1.6% during the 10 years they were in power. That is the worst performance since Mackenzie King. Average annual employment growth was 1%, the worst since the Second World War. He wants other facts, so here they are: growth was 3.7% last year, the best growth in the G7 for Canada. In addition, 500,000 jobs were created in the last two years, and there was a 40% drop in child poverty. That is the work our government has done.
Mr. Speaker, I do not exactly blame the NDP for not remembering the 2015 election. It was a pretty bad one for them. However, we were very clear throughout the entire campaign that we were going to lower taxes for the middle class and raise taxes on the wealthiest 1%. That is exactly what we did. The NDP have some theory about non-disclosure. It simply does not apply. We have anchored ourselves in telling people what we are going to do, and are doing it. It is working. We have the strongest growth in the G7 because of our finance minister and because of the plan.
Mr. Speaker, while other shipyards in Canada are unable to turn out a ship, Davie delivers the goods. Yesterday, the Minister of National Defence said he had already ordered two more supply ships to meet the navy's needs. The problem is that Seaspan cannot start building them until 2023 and cannot deliver them until 2027. It will take 10 years to get the ships that Davie could build and deliver by 2019. Why is the government refusing to award contracts to Davie when this is the only sensible solution?
Mr. Speaker, this morning in committee, the deputy minister responsible for fixing the Phoenix fiasco said that IBM did not make any mistakes in creating and implementing the pay system. On the contrary, the company merely did what it was asked to do. In other words, all the blame lies with whoever is managing the project, namely this government. If the government did not know what it was doing when it implemented Phoenix, how can we expect it to fix this disaster? It is time to work with the real experts: our public servants and unions.
Mr. Speaker, the government promised a client-focused CRA, and all we have so far are tax increases on type 1 diabetics, half-baked plans for taxes on retail employees, misinformation, and busy signals.Now there are reports that the CRA is auditing single moms and telling them to get expensive separation agreements, and then telling that it is not good enough, and withholding their child benefits.When will the minister stop attacking ordinary, honest Canadians who are just trying to comply, and receive the credits and benefits to which they are entitled?
Mr. Speaker, I feel rather bad for the opposition members because we are managing a growing economy for the middle class, providing families with benefits that make a huge difference, and launching a national housing strategy that is being praised across the country.We are not giving opposition members many reasons to criticize our actions. They feel they need to make personal attacks, and that is truly unfortunate for our democracy, our government, and our country.
Mr. Speaker, given the cloud of ethical scandals that seem to grow worse every day, I have a simple question for the Prime Minister. Does he still have confidence in his finance minister?
If I were the hon. member for Orléans, I would not feel very reassured.Mr. Speaker, if we needed another alarm to alert us to the crisis in the news industry, we heard it yesterday with the announcement that some 30 local newspapers will be shut down, resulting in the loss of almost 300 jobs. This should come as no surprise, since we have been talking about this issue for years, and there have been several reports on it.Everyone warned the minister about the coming crisis, and she was offered turnkey, tangible solutions. The ship is sinking, yet the Liberal band continues to play as though nothing were wrong. I think I have seen that movie, and it did not end well.Is the minister ever going to take measures to help this industry, or is she going to wait until there are no newspapers left before she wakes up?
Mr. Speaker, I am assisting a single mom with three kids who has provided independent third-party letters and even a restraining order to prove to the Canada Revenue Agency that her ex-spouse no longer lives with her. Worse yet, CRA has said that until her ex co-operates with her, she will have her Canada child benefit withheld. The government is being heartless, and I am hearing increasing numbers of cases of similar stories. When will the minister instruct her officials to quit making life more difficult for Canadian single moms?
Mr. Speaker, let me assure everyone that resolving this situation is my top priority. People deserve to be paid properly and on time. When the previous government irresponsibly treated this project as a cost-cutting measure instead of the complex, enterprise-wide business transformation that it was, it set the project up to fail and exposed it to enormous risk. We are currently taking steps that the previous government did not take.
Mr. Speaker, the report of the Liberal dominated Standing Committee on National Defence is clear: the Royal Canadian Navy is vulnerable and does not have a resupply capability on the the high seas. Costs are skyrocketing and delivery times are getting longer. Not one vessel has been delivered. The Liberal government is incapable of providing a delivery date.What are the Liberals waiting for to immediately award the contract for the Obélix to the Lévis shipyard, as we did with the Astérix? This is about national security.
Mr. Speaker, telling people what they will do and actually doing it is ironic, because if the finance minister had actually done what he told people he was going to do and had put his things in a blind trust, none of this would be an issue. The Prime Minister's instructions to the finance minister was that he must avoid conflict of interest, the appearance of conflict of interest and situations that have the potential to involve conflicts of interest. The finance minister has failed to live up to that standard, and because the Prime Minister has failed to enforce the standard, we had to once again write the Ethics Commissioner. If all of this is not a conflict of interest to the Prime Minister, what exactly is?
Mr. Speaker, that is said by a man who is under investigation by the Ethics Commissioner.The definition of insider trading is the use of undisclosed material information for profit. Here are the facts. The finance minister told the National Post he sold $10 million in Morneau Shepell shares in December 2015. Six days later he introduced a tax change that would have lost someone selling $10 million in shares half a million dollars. Just minutes ago, the finance minister refused to tell reporters if it was he who in fact had sold those shares.Given all of this, how can the Prime Minister still have confidence in his finance minister?
Mr. Speaker, the minister's office told the National Post that someone sold 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares in November 2015 at $15 a share, which allowed that person to save half a million dollars.My question is simple. Was that person the Minister of Finance?
Mr. Speaker, our government recognizes the tragic impact of the opioid crisis that has faced our country. We remain committed to taking action through this compassionate, collaborative, and evidence-based approach. I also had the opportunity to meet that group when I was in Edmonton last week.Formal declarations of an emergency will not provide us with any additional tools or extra measures to provide to the opioid crisis. Our government will continue to work with all partners to address this crisis and the underlying cause of problematic substance use.
Mr. Speaker, it is the Prime Minister who is de-emphasizing Canadian security, and Canadians are tired of it. It was Conservatives who amended the Criminal Code to make it an offence to leave Canada to fight for ISIS. It was Conservatives who were focused on giving our law enforcement new tools to prosecute ISIS fighters. The Prime Minister is using a broad spectrum that includes poetry and podcasts, and all kinds of counselling and group hug sessions.When will the Prime Minister take the security of Canadians seriously and look for ways to put these ISIS fighters in jail?
Mr. Speaker, like my colleague, I am disappointed to see that Postmedia and Torstar decided to close these local media a month before Christmas. My thoughts are with the workers and their families. These are cynical business decisions that were taken by Postmedia and Torstar, and it is up to these companies to explain them. As for local newspapers, Canadians value them, and of course, as government, we will continue to provide our support to the local media.
Mr. Speaker, I tried asking the minister inside the House of Commons if he sold 680,000 shares on November 30 and now I invited him to come and answer that question outside the House of Commons. The House will be disappointed to learn that he did not show up to answer the question, so will the Prime Minister answer it on his behalf? Who was it who sold 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares one week before tax measures were introduced on the floor of the House?
Mr. Speaker, like my colleague, I am disappointed that Postmedia and Torstar made this decision a month before Christmas. Of course my thoughts are with the workers and their families. These are cynical business decisions that were taken by Postmedia and Torstar, and it is up to these companies to explain them. The government will continue to support local media. We are investing $75 million a year and will continue to do so.
Mr. Speaker, I am quite pleased with the question from the opposition member, who has given me the opportunity to talk about this tax measure that he is referring to. What is this tax measure? It is to raise taxes for the wealthiest 1% and to cut them for 9 million Canadians, and it is the Canada child benefit that we have made more progressive than ever. Under the Conservatives, not only was it taxable, but it was also sent to all families, regardless of income. We have introduced more fairness into our tax system to give more to those families who need it the most, and I am proud of that.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Morneau's office confirmed to the National Post that someone sold more than 680 shares
Mr. Speaker, there is no question that there are many who have suffered under Phoenix system, and veterans are certainly some of those.We are doing our level best to identify those who have been affected, and we are asking some of them to come forward. It does make it difficult, because we do need a head count on these individuals. However, I can say that these officials are working diligently on the matter. We ask those veterans who have not come forward and who have been affected by Phoenix to please do so, and we will do our level best to help.
Mr. Speaker, as I have said, the Minister of Finance always worked with the Ethics Commissioner. He will continue to do so, but I do appreciate the opportunity to talk about the tax measures that were announced in December 2015, which fulfilled a commitment that we made during the election campaign, namely to raise taxes for the wealthiest 1%.I know that it is a fairly strange idea for the opposition party, which focused on giving tax breaks to the wealthy during the 10 years they were in power. We cut taxes for 9 million Canadians, and we introduced the Canada child benefit to reduce inequality in this country. This is a record that I am proud of.
Mr. Speaker, the government supported our motion that deplores the loss of 800 jobs at the Davie shipyard, but it is not doing anything more. Quebec's labour minister has said that someone needs to wake up and make sure that the shipyard gets what it is entitled to. Forty Quebec Liberals are asleep at the switch on the other side of the House. It is all well and good to deplore the loss of 800 jobs, but it seems all the government is doing is shedding crocodile tears. This week, another 350 jobs will be lost.Does the government care? Is it going to do something?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner, who is responsible for preserving the integrity of Parliament. That duty does not fall to the opposition, which seems to consider itself judge and jury. It is up to the Ethics Commissioner, who acts impartially and with integrity. We have confidence in the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, my colleague said that the minister works with the Ethics Commissioner. If that is true, did he ask the Ethics Commissioner for permission before selling 680,000 shares in his family company, which allowed him to make a $500,000 profit, since the value of those shares dropped by 75¢ seven days later?Did the Minister of Finance inform the Ethics Commissioner of his intention to sell his company shares in November 2015, yes or no?
Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to announce last week that the Canada 150 rink will be open through the 40th anniversary of Winterlude and until the end of February. This will be a great legacy project, a first in front of Parliament Hill. Afterward, the rink will be given to a community in need. There will be hockey, ringette, sledge hockey for children and adult men and women, and many other activities. Thousands of Canadians will enjoy the delights of this great rink.I invite my colleague to put on her skates. It will be a pleasure for me to go and skate with her.
Mr. Speaker, perhaps my colleague would benefit from being reminded that the tax measure he referred to is a tax increase for the wealthiest 1% and a tax cut for nine million Canadians. Our plan to do that was the worst-kept secret in town, because it was one of our campaign promises, and we keep our promises. Our promises have enabled Canada to achieve the highest growth in the G7 and have given some breathing room to families that need it, and I am very proud of that.
Mr. Speaker, all Canadians know that the minister sometimes forgets things. For two years, he forgot that he owned a villa in Provence. Now, he seems to have forgotten who sold 680,000 shares in his company, worth $10 million. Just now, referring to the Minister of Finance, the parliamentary secretary said, and I quote: he sold all his shares. Can the parliamentary secretary tell us when the Minister of Finance sold all his shares?
Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely right: we did do a panel yesterday, at which point, outside of the walls of this House, I asked when the Minister of Finance sold his 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell. I also enumerated all the facts leading up to that sale, and I am absolutely confident that everything I have said out there and in here is true. Would he commit that, if I go out and repeat my question in the lobby at this moment, the finance minister will meet me there and answer the question?
Mr. Speaker, as I have stated, the navy is currently in the midst of the most comprehensive fleet modernization in its peacetime history. Work is under way on the two joint supply ships that Seaspan is building. Because of some of the delays, the interim ship was required, and we thank Davie for its tremendous work in filling this interim capability gap.
Mr. Speaker, this government, like all governments, takes extremely seriously the safety of Canadians, and that is why everything we do is focused on keeping Canadians safe. We know that a society that is safe is one in which we are using a broad range of tools to keep Canadians safe. Yes, we have enforcement, surveillance, and national security tools that we use to a significant degree, but we also have methods of de-emphasizing or deprogramming people who want to harm our society, and those are some of the things we have to move forward on.
Mr. Speaker, I think the member misunderstood my response. I asked if he was prepared to repeat the allegations, not the questions. He knows exactly what allegations he made yesterday in the House.I can assure everyone that the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. He will remember that in the Trudeau government's first budget we included $30 million for the victims, $10 million a year
Mr. Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to remind members that it was the current Minister of Finance who put $30 million in the first federal budget for compensation for pyrrhotite victims in Mauricie. When we speak with the victims, it is obvious that they are aware that the government is acting in their best interests.
Mr. Speaker, SurreyNewton has many small and medium-sized businesses that trade with India every day. BI Pure Water, a Surrey-based business that focuses on clean tech, was part of the trade mission led by the Minister of International Trade to India earlier this month. Businesses like this benefit greatly from trade missions where they meet with companies to build stronger relationships. I ask the minister to update the House on his
Mr. Speaker, I am sure the finance minister has been pretty busy lately sorting out his ethical lapses, and raising taxes on Canadians while sheltering his own from taxes. His mind has been pretty preoccupied. Maybe that is why yesterday he could not quite remember what he did in November 2015. However, 24 hours have passed and I am hoping the Prime Minister may have spoken with his finance minister.Can the Prime Minister tell us if the finance minister sold 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell in November 2015, yes or no?
Mr. Speaker, last night I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion with this particular opposition member, and I noticed that he was very careful not to repeat any of the allegations he is making here outside this chamber. If they are as justified as he claims, I invite him to repeat them outside this chamber.What I can say is that the tax measures he is referring to raised taxes for the wealthiest 1% and cut them for nine million Canadians. This was a promise we made during the election campaign, and I am very proud of it.
Mr. Speaker, our government is deeply concerned about the opioid crisis in Canada. We have taken several emergency measures on this issue, including significant federal investments, a new law, and expedited regulatory action.Going forward, we will be working with the provinces and territories to expand access to treatment, support innovative approaches, and respond to this crisis. We will fight against the stigma of opioid use.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always been transparent with the Ethics Commissioner, who is responsible for safeguarding the integrity of Parliament. He followed her recommendations, and he will continue to do so and to work with the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his support for education and students. As the member well knows, our government supports lifelong learning. We support work-integrated learning, which is why we invested $221 million to create more workplace opportunities in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and in business programs. This investment will create 10,000 paid internships for Canadian students from coast to coast to coast. This is about creating good-quality jobs for students for today and tomorrow.
Mr. Speaker, we need to make sure that Canadians have the skill and experience needed to work in today's economy. There are many well educated students graduating, but the common concern I hear from those in London North Centre is that they are unable to get their feet into the workforce without any work experience. This is a large gap that we must act to fill so as to ensure graduating students are successful. Can the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development please explain what he is doing to ensure that our graduates are ready for the workforce?
Mr. Speaker, we recognize the excellent work of Davie employees. Over the past few weeks, our government has been in contact with Davie shipyard executives and the unions. The company has presented a bid, and we are in discussions.Since 2011, the government has invested over $7 billion in the Canadian shipbuilding industry, including $717 million in Quebec, as part of the national shipbuilding strategy.
Mr. Speaker, the navy is in the midst of the most comprehensive fleet modernization since peacetime in history. As part of the national shipbuilding strategy and under new defence policy, our government is acquiring fleet support ships to permanently replace the Protecteur class auxiliary oiler replenishment vessels. The project will deliver two vessels that will provide core replenishment, sealift capabilities, and support to our operations offshore. This government is committed to building new ships for the navy and to maintain Canada's naval capabilities over the long term.
Mr. Speaker, all Canadians want is simple answers to simple questions. If the minister has nothing to hide, all he has to do is answer this question. A week before he introduced tax measures affecting his own company, someone sold a block of 680,000 shares worth $10 million, neatly sidestepping a $500,000 loss when the stock market dropped.Here is the simple question. He owned the company. Can he tell us who sold that block of 680,000 shares?
Mr. Speaker our government is committed to creating open spaces for Canadians to debate and express their views. We also firmly support a woman's right to choose. In a free society, we may disagree with a person's views but we must defend the right to hold them unless those views promote hate.The opposition leader's silence suggests he will only stand up for free speech if it is politically convenient. We cannot cherry-pick on free speech.
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have tried to score political points with their so-called support for free speech at post-secondary institutions, yet there has not been a word from the Leader of the Opposition after a group was prevented last week from showing a pro-choice documentary on a university campus. It seems like he is only in favour of free speech when it is an opinion he agrees with.Could the Minister of Science please tell the House what our government's position is on this important issue?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance, as I have already said, has been working with the Ethics Commissioner from the very beginning of his term. She is the one responsible, far from the partisanship that sometimes drives us in the House, to ensure that the rules and the highest standards of integrity are followed. The Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner and will continue to do so.
Mr. Speaker, the phoenix shows no signs of rising from the ashes. The problems continue.Now we learn there is no way to assess whether programs to prioritize the hiring of Canada's veterans are working. The government knew about this. It made promises, but still cannot claim an increased number of veterans in the public service because it has no way of knowing if, or how many, veterans have been hired.When will the government show veterans and public servants the respect they have earned, and fix the Phoenix problems?
Mr. Speaker, last week, I announced that the Canada 150 skating rink will remain open until the end of February for the 40th anniversary of Winterlude. This great legacy project, a skating rink in front of Parliament, is a first and the skating rink will be donated to a community in need, as my colleague said.There will be hockey games, ringuette, and sledge hockey for young and old, men and women alike. Thousands of people are expected in front of Parliament. I hope that my colleague will join me for the Canada 150 celebrations.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for SurreyNewton for the great work he is doing in his riding. We had 175 participants, 85 small and medium-sized businesses, and 300 meetings over five days in five cities. I was honoured to lead this historic mission, the biggest Canadian trade mission to India. During our mission, Canadian companies got to showcase their talents and expertise in various sectors like innovation and clean tech, while making numerous new connections. We will continue to have an ambitious trade agenda and make trade work for people.
Mr. Speaker, he was fined by the Ethics Commissioner for hiding offshore corporations, he is under investigation by the Ethics Commissioner for introducing pension legislation that benefited himself and his family, and he has been misleading Canadians as to whether he actually divested himself of the shares he owns, and now questions are being raised about the sale of $10-million worth of Morneau Shepell shares just days before he introduced tax measures that would drastically affect the market.I have one quick question for the Prime Minister. Can we expect his finance minister to deliver the next budget?
Mr. Speaker, as the member already knows, the person responsible for enforcing the highest standards of integrity in the House is the Ethics Commissioner. It is with the Ethics Commissioner that the Minister of Finance has always been fully transparent by giving her his full co-operation to ensure that the rules are followed. That is what is expected of all members and all ministers, and that is what the Minister of Finance has always done.
Mr. Speaker, earlier in question period, the Prime Minister said that his government is transparent, accountable, and trustworthy. Those are his words. This is a good opportunity to prove it.On December 7, the Minister of Finance introduced a tax policy that had a direct impact on the stock market and resulted in a 5% drop in the share price of his own company, Morneau Shepell. However, 680,000 shares had been sold a few days earlier on November 30, saving someone half a million dollars. To prove that he is transparent, accountable, and trustworthy, could the Prime Minister tell us if the person who sold those shares was the Minister of Finance?
Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of people who are watching question period, perhaps for the first time, across the country. The fact is that it is an opportunity to talk about substantive issues of the time that affect Canadians in terms of policy. The members opposite choose to go with personal attacks.A handy way of evaluating if those personal attacks are baseless or groundless is whether the members opposite are willing to repeat them outside this House where there is no parliamentary privilege. What we see here is Stephen Harper's party, through and through.
Mr. Speaker, ever since he took office here in Ottawa, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner. He made sure he acted on her recommendations, including her advice to set up a conflict of interest screen. He announced that he had sold all of his shares in Morneau Shepell and that he was putting all of his assets in a blind trust in order to continue the important work he does for Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, devastating news out of Alberta reveals a 40% increase in opioid deaths this year and Canada will lose 3,000 lives in 2017. Families affected by this crisis are growing dismayed by the Prime Minister's glacial response. In fact, Moms Stop the Harm has started the Do Something Prime Minister Photo Campaign by sending photos of lost loved ones to the PMO.The Prime Minister has ignored our call to declare the opioid crisis a national public health emergency. How many more Canadians need to die before he finally listens?
Mr. Speaker, this minister, like all members of this House, worked with the Ethics Commissioner exactly to avoid any conflicts like this. The Ethics Commissioner exists above the back-and-forth of Parliament to ensure that people are following the rules and that mistakes are not made. That is exactly the job that she has been fulfilling, and that is exactly where Canadians can be reassured that, despite the personal attacks of the members opposite, the Ethics Commissioner is being followed.
Mr. Speaker, CSIS warned the Liberal government all the way back in 2015 that returning ISIS fighters were a continuing and real threat to Canada. It warned that Canadian citizens were recruited by ISIS [not] because they needed more foot soldiers...but because they want to teach the Westerners to take the struggle into every neighbourhood and subway back home. ISIS specifically trained Canadian fighters to come back here and terrorize our community, and the Liberals have known about it for over two years.Why is the Prime Minister so focused on reintegration services and not putting these people in jail?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always been transparent in his dealings with the Ethics Commissioner by following her recommendations, including setting up a conflict of interest screen, which she thought was the best possible measure of compliance.As the member for Beauce knows, the minister announced that he would go the extra mile by divesting himself of the rest of his shares in Morneau Shepell and placing all his assets in a blind trust.
Mr. Speaker, nobody voted in the last election to elect a government that would be so focused on the rights of ISIS terrorists, people who watch soldiers burned alive in cages, people who sell women and girls into slavery. When people like that come home, they do not need to spend time writing haikus; they need to spend time in jail. When will the Prime Minister take this seriously?
Mr. Speaker, with $5.6 million how many outdoor skating rinks could we renew across Canada to get young children and their families to skate for the next 25 years?Instead of fuelling this Prime Minister's boundless egocentrism, why did this Prime Minister and the Minister of Canadian Heritage not consider investing all that money into several skating rinks. Instead of skating on just one temporary outdoor rink to the tune of $5.6 million for the sake of a photo op on New Year's Eve
Mr. Speaker, I find it strange that the Prime Minister is telling me that quoting from his own mandate letter to the Minister of Finance constitutes a personal attack. I think that what the Prime Minister should do is what he himself said when he was in opposition. In 2013 he said: Canadians deserve leaders who tell the truth. Leaders take responsibility when things go well but also when things go wrong. Why is the Prime Minister of 2017 not listening to the member for Papineau of 2013, not assuming his responsibilities, and not coming clean with Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner. He has always said that he was completely transparent with her in disclosing his assets, following her recommendations, and upholding the highest standards of integrity. He will always work with the Ethics Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, in the past few months, there have been more than 60 cases of opioid overdoses in Montreal. The crisis has even reached Laval, where at least 10 more overdoses have occurred. The crisis is only getting worse across Canada. For a year now, the NDP has been calling on the Liberal government to treat the opioid crisis as a national emergency, so that communities in need can access more resources.With seven people dying every day, what is this government waiting for to declare that the opioid crisis has become a national emergency?
Mr. Speaker, the member says that the tax change was promised. So was electoral reform; so was the $10-billion deficit that suddenly became $20 billion; and so was the tax on stock options that never happened. Promises mean nothing. Motions in the House of Commons move markets, and only the minister knew when he would introduce that motion and was able to predict what impact it would have on stock markets.Someone sold 680,000 shares prior to the introduction of that motion, saving a half-million dollars. Who was it?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times in the House, all members and all ministers are expected to work with the Ethics Commissioner to ensure that the rules governing us are followed. That is exactly what the Minister of Finance did as soon as he arrived in Ottawa. He announced that he was putting all his assets in a blind trust and that he was divesting himself of his remaining shares in Morneau Shepell. He also announced that he was donating to charity any difference in the value of those shares since the election.
Mr. Speaker, in November 2015, someone sold a whole lot of Morneau Shepell shares and in the process saved a whole lot of money. Either the finance minister does not know who sold them, knows who sold them and it was not him, or knows who sold them and it was him. It is one of three answers. It is very simple. There should be no more threats from the Liberals. I do not think they are in any position to threaten us. They should just answer the question.
Mr. Speaker, our government has demonstrated a level of transparency, openness, and accountability that was completely unheard of during the days of the former government. We will continue to work with the Ethics Commissioner. We will continue to answer all the questions. We will continue to show that we are working hard every day to remain worthy of the trust that Canadians have put in us.
Mr. Speaker, here are the facts: in December 2015, the Minister of Finance still owned thousands of shares in Morneau Shepell. On November 30, 2015, someone just happened to sell 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares worth $10 million. On December 7, one week later, the minister introduced tax measures that resulted in a 5% drop in the stock market, allowing this individual to make half a million dollars.Given that the Minister of Finance owned Morneau Shepell at that time, can he tell us who sold these shares?
Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that more than 30 local and community newspapers across the country will be shut down. The heritage minister has been talking the talk about the news industry crisis. She had options, yet she did nothing to prevent this disaster. Now she is saying she will study the issue, but with no action, frankly, there will not be much left to study. How can she sit back and do nothing as nearly 300 people lose their jobs? What will the minister say to her colleague the member for Orléans and his constituents when Orleans News shuts down?
Mr. Speaker, the finance minister lowered taxes for the middle class and raised them on the wealthiest 1%. He delivered on a Canada child benefit that is helping nine out of 10 Canadian families and reducing child poverty by 40%. He strengthened the CPP for a generation with a historic agreement with the provinces. He has lowered small business taxes to 9%. He continues to focus on the things that matter to Canadians and he has our full confidence.
Mr. Speaker, despite the Liberals' promises, several hundred pyrrhotite victims have not been compensated. Furthermore, several hundred more do not even have a hope of obtaining compensation. They are caught in a grey area as they do not qualify for assistance because the federal standards for aggregates used in concrete are vague. Since the entire Mauricie community has been asking for this standard to be reviewed for years, how can the government revise the building code and refuse to review the standard for pyrrhotite content in concrete?
Mr. Speaker, now we are back to everything was done with the Ethics Commissioner. I wonder if the minister told the Ethics Commissioner that he was going to sell $10 million of shares in stocks that would drop only a week later when he introduced a bill affecting the entire stock market.I will ask that question directly. Did the minister discuss the date of the sale of the shares along with the date of his motion on taxes?
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party learned nothing from the last election and the lessons Canadians taught them. They ran an election on snitch lines against Muslims, they ran an election on Islamophobia and division, and still they play the same games, trying to scare Canadians. The fact is we always focus on the security of Canadians, and we always will. They play the politics of fear, and Canadians reject that.
Mr. Speaker
Mr. Speaker, the NDP has asked the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner to launch another investigation into the Minister of Finance and the suspicious sale of Morneau Shepell shares in November 2015. If the commissioner decides to open an investigation, it will be the fourth investigation of members of this government, including two involving the Minister of Finance and one involving the Prime Minister.In his mandate letter to the Minister of Finance, the Prime Minister stated, ...the arrangement of your private affairs should bear the closest public scrutiny.When will the Prime Minister follow the rules that he himself established?
Mr. Speaker, yesterday John Ivison indicated that he received some documents showing that the sale of the 680,000 shares by the minister would have happened on December 3. December 3 would be the settlement date for a sale that would have happened on November 30. We know that such a sale occurred by somebody, and that somebody avoided a five per cent drop in Morneau Shepell shares, which happened after he introduced his motion.Can the minister confirm that he was the one who sold that block of stock?
Mr. Speaker, I am dedicated to ensuring that Canadians, especially the most vulnerable, get the benefits they are entitled to. That is a key part of my mandate. The CRA has never set out to make life more difficult for anyone. We realize that some people cannot provide all of the information needed for the agency to review their files. People grappling with situations like that should contact the CRA for help.
Mr. Speaker, as I said, I am dedicated to ensuring that Canadians, especially the most vulnerable, get the benefits they are entitled to. That is an absolutely key part of my mandate. I can assure my colleague that the CRA does not withhold the Canada child benefit for want of a spouse's signature. I want to emphasize that the CRA would not require potential beneficiaries to communicate with an abusive spouse.
Mr. Speaker, on the front lawn of this building is a $5.6 million example of the Liberals' outlandish abuse of taxpayers' dollars.The Prime Minister commissioned this arena, and it will be open for a very short period of time. The public is only going to have access for 45 minutes, which, quite frankly, is going to be a bit of a relief, because according to the rules, all one is allowed to do is go around, around, and around.How can the Prime Minister justify this expense that will be on the backs of our grandchildren and children?
Mr. Speaker, we can see that Stephen Harper's Conservative Party is alive and well. They are doubling down on the same approaches they had in the last election, the same approaches that Canadians rejected. I wish them luck.
Mr. Speaker, somebody avoided paying the higher taxes that the finance minister imposed by selling those 680,000 shares before those measures took place. Someone sold those shares before the new tax measures were tabled in this House of Commons. It was either the minister, and he does not think there was anything wrong with that, or it was not the minister, and he could just say that. We have repeated everything that was said in the House outside the House. The Liberals have refused to answer questions in the House or outside. Will the Prime Minister answer the question, who sold those shares in December?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times in the House for the member's benefit, the Minister of Finance has always worked with the Ethics Commissioner and has always followed her recommendations. If he wants other facts, I can give him some. For example, real GDP growth was 1.6% during the 10 years they were in power. That is the worst performance since Mackenzie King. Average annual employment growth was 1%, the worst since the Second World War. He wants other facts, so here they are: growth was 3.7% last year, the best growth in the G7 for Canada. In addition, 500,000 jobs were created in the last two years, and there was a 40% drop in child poverty. That is the work our government has done.
Mr. Speaker, I do not exactly blame the NDP for not remembering the 2015 election. It was a pretty bad one for them. However, we were very clear throughout the entire campaign that we were going to lower taxes for the middle class and raise taxes on the wealthiest 1%. That is exactly what we did. The NDP have some theory about non-disclosure. It simply does not apply. We have anchored ourselves in telling people what we are going to do, and are doing it. It is working. We have the strongest growth in the G7 because of our finance minister and because of the plan.
Mr. Speaker, while other shipyards in Canada are unable to turn out a ship, Davie delivers the goods. Yesterday, the Minister of National Defence said he had already ordered two more supply ships to meet the navy's needs. The problem is that Seaspan cannot start building them until 2023 and cannot deliver them until 2027. It will take 10 years to get the ships that Davie could build and deliver by 2019. Why is the government refusing to award contracts to Davie when this is the only sensible solution?
Mr. Speaker, this morning in committee, the deputy minister responsible for fixing the Phoenix fiasco said that IBM did not make any mistakes in creating and implementing the pay system. On the contrary, the company merely did what it was asked to do. In other words, all the blame lies with whoever is managing the project, namely this government. If the government did not know what it was doing when it implemented Phoenix, how can we expect it to fix this disaster? It is time to work with the real experts: our public servants and unions.
Mr. Speaker, the government promised a client-focused CRA, and all we have so far are tax increases on type 1 diabetics, half-baked plans for taxes on retail employees, misinformation, and busy signals.Now there are reports that the CRA is auditing single moms and telling them to get expensive separation agreements, and then telling that it is not good enough, and withholding their child benefits.When will the minister stop attacking ordinary, honest Canadians who are just trying to comply, and receive the credits and benefits to which they are entitled?
Mr. Speaker, I feel rather bad for the opposition members because we are managing a growing economy for the middle class, providing families with benefits that make a huge difference, and launching a national housing strategy that is being praised across the country.We are not giving opposition members many reasons to criticize our actions. They feel they need to make personal attacks, and that is truly unfortunate for our democracy, our government, and our country.
Mr. Speaker, given the cloud of ethical scandals that seem to grow worse every day, I have a simple question for the Prime Minister. Does he still have confidence in his finance minister?
If I were the hon. member for Orléans, I would not feel very reassured.Mr. Speaker, if we needed another alarm to alert us to the crisis in the news industry, we heard it yesterday with the announcement that some 30 local newspapers will be shut down, resulting in the loss of almost 300 jobs. This should come as no surprise, since we have been talking about this issue for years, and there have been several reports on it.Everyone warned the minister about the coming crisis, and she was offered turnkey, tangible solutions. The ship is sinking, yet the Liberal band continues to play as though nothing were wrong. I think I have seen that movie, and it did not end well.Is the minister ever going to take measures to help this industry, or is she going to wait until there are no newspapers left before she wakes up?
Mr. Speaker, I am assisting a single mom with three kids who has provided independent third-party letters and even a restraining order to prove to the Canada Revenue Agency that her ex-spouse no longer lives with her. Worse yet, CRA has said that until her ex co-operates with her, she will have her Canada child benefit withheld. The government is being heartless, and I am hearing increasing numbers of cases of similar stories. When will the minister instruct her officials to quit making life more difficult for Canadian single moms?
Mr. Speaker, let me assure everyone that resolving this situation is my top priority. People deserve to be paid properly and on time. When the previous government irresponsibly treated this project as a cost-cutting measure instead of the complex, enterprise-wide business transformation that it was, it set the project up to fail and exposed it to enormous risk. We are currently taking steps that the previous government did not take.
Mr. Speaker, the report of the Liberal dominated Standing Committee on National Defence is clear: the Royal Canadian Navy is vulnerable and does not have a resupply capability on the the high seas. Costs are skyrocketing and delivery times are getting longer. Not one vessel has been delivered. The Liberal government is incapable of providing a delivery date.What are the Liberals waiting for to immediately award the contract for the Obélix to the Lévis shipyard, as we did with the Astérix? This is about national security.
Mr. Speaker, telling people what they will do and actually doing it is ironic, because if the finance minister had actually done what he told people he was going to do and had put his things in a blind trust, none of this would be an issue. The Prime Minister's instructions to the finance minister was that he must avoid conflict of interest, the appearance of conflict of interest and situations that have the potential to involve conflicts of interest. The finance minister has failed to live up to that standard, and because the Prime Minister has failed to enforce the standard, we had to once again write the Ethics Commissioner. If all of this is not a conflict of interest to the Prime Minister, what exactly is?
Mr. Speaker, that is said by a man who is under investigation by the Ethics Commissioner.The definition of insider trading is the use of undisclosed material information for profit. Here are the facts. The finance minister told the National Post he sold $10 million in Morneau Shepell shares in December 2015. Six days later he introduced a tax change that would have lost someone selling $10 million in shares half a million dollars. Just minutes ago, the finance minister refused to tell reporters if it was he who in fact had sold those shares.Given all of this, how can the Prime Minister still have confidence in his finance minister?
Mr. Speaker, the minister's office told the National Post that someone sold 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares in November 2015 at $15 a share, which allowed that person to save half a million dollars.My question is simple. Was that person the Minister of Finance?
Mr. Speaker, our government recognizes the tragic impact of the opioid crisis that has faced our country. We remain committed to taking action through this compassionate, collaborative, and evidence-based approach. I also had the opportunity to meet that group when I was in Edmonton last week.Formal declarations of an emergency will not provide us with any additional tools or extra measures to provide to the opioid crisis. Our government will continue to work with all partners to address this crisis and the underlying cause of problematic substance use.
Mr. Speaker, it is the Prime Minister who is de-emphasizing Canadian security, and Canadians are tired of it. It was Conservatives who amended the Criminal Code to make it an offence to leave Canada to fight for ISIS. It was Conservatives who were focused on giving our law enforcement new tools to prosecute ISIS fighters. The Prime Minister is using a broad spectrum that includes poetry and podcasts, and all kinds of counselling and group hug sessions.When will the Prime Minister take the security of Canadians seriously and look for ways to put these ISIS fighters in jail?
Mr. Speaker, like my colleague, I am disappointed to see that Postmedia and Torstar decided to close these local media a month before Christmas. My thoughts are with the workers and their families. These are cynical business decisions that were taken by Postmedia and Torstar, and it is up to these companies to explain them. As for local newspapers, Canadians value them, and of course, as government, we will continue to provide our support to the local media.
Mr. Speaker, I tried asking the minister inside the House of Commons if he sold 680,000 shares on November 30 and now I invited him to come and answer that question outside the House of Commons. The House will be disappointed to learn that he did not show up to answer the question, so will the Prime Minister answer it on his behalf? Who was it who sold 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares one week before tax measures were introduced on the floor of the House?
Mr. Speaker, like my colleague, I am disappointed that Postmedia and Torstar made this decision a month before Christmas. Of course my thoughts are with the workers and their families. These are cynical business decisions that were taken by Postmedia and Torstar, and it is up to these companies to explain them. The government will continue to support local media. We are investing $75 million a year and will continue to do so.