2017-11-29

Mr. Speaker, not only do I stand with the United Nations on this and many other issues, I actually, personally, brought up this issue when I was in Liberia, challenging local leaders and local governments to step up on the fight against FGM.We will continue to stand against violence against women. We will continue to lead the way, pushing for an end to these barbaric practices of female genital mutilation, everywhere around the world and here in Canada. This is something we take very seriously.

I will bite my tongue, Mr. Speaker. Everything about the Minister of Finance is shady and hypocritical, yet he is still trying to convince us that the opposite is true by refusing to answer our questions. Canada's finances must be managed by someone who is responsible, transparent, and honest because this is Canadians' money we are talking about.In light of the commissioner's investigations, the minister's personal gains and his refusal to respond to questions about his financial transactions, will the Prime Minister fire his finance minister, yes or no?

Mr. Speaker, once again, the NDP and the Conservatives are pretending there was some sort of secret here, that we were going to lower taxes for the middle class and raise them on the wealthiest 1%. We campaigned on that promise. They lost because of that promise. I know they remember it. The fabrications and the personal attacks, the slinging of mud in this place, and hiding behind parliamentary privilege is not what Canadians expect from this place.

Again we see, Mr. Speaker, that the opposition members are filled with sound and fury, signifying nothing. They refuse to actually follow up on the insinuations and allegations they made clearly in this House on Monday because they realized they went too far, because their desire to attack and to sling mud against the honour and integrity of people on this side of the House crossed some lines. That is why they are unable and unwilling to go out and repeat what they said on Monday outside of this House, which tells Canadians that this is nothing but bluster.

Mr. Speaker, not only is the Minister of Finance unable to answer questions and follow the rules, but he cannot count.He said the deficit would be $10 billion; it was $20 billion. He said taxes would go up on the richest; in fact, the rich are paying $1 billion less. He said taxes would go down for the middle class, but 87% of them are paying more.When will the Prime Minister do the right thing and fire this incompetent minister who cannot follow the rules?

Mr. Speaker, you see, once again the lawyers have got into their questions.On Monday, the member for Carleton made a very clear accusation in this House. He then swept out of the House yesterday and did not repeat that allegation outside of the House. He is hiding behind parliamentary privilege, which is why Canadians can know that this is nothing but unfounded, personal, baseless attacks and not a substantive criticism of the government.

Mr. Speaker, it is clear to the members of this House and all Canadians that the minister has already answered this question, but the opposition members continue to sling mud because they have nothing else to do. They cannot criticize us, because in two years we have already achieved a much better economic record and helped far more Canadians than they managed to do in 10 years, despite their vaunted economic expertise. The Conservatives are showing that they overstated their expertise. We are the ones who are good at creating economic growth.

I have some facts for you, Mr. Speaker. Over the past two years, it has been proven that the Minister of Finance violated ethics laws. He forgot to put his assets in a blind trust. He forgot to declare his villa in France. He refuses to disclose his numbered companies. The cherry on top is this business with his block of 680,000 shares worth over $10 million that were sold just before a measure was introduced in the House. No one trusts this finance minister anymore.What is the Prime Minister waiting for to fire him?

Mr. Speaker, enough is enough. The Minister of Finance is in trouble up to his eyeballs. He misled the House and benefited from a bill he introduced. He put himself in a conflict of interest and he is under investigation.Somehow, thousands of shares in Morneau Shepell were sold a few days before a major tax announcement. When people say they no longer believe politicians and that they think we are all crooks, that is why. The Liberals were elected to restore public confidence.How can the Prime minister have confidence in his Minister of Finance?

Mr. Speaker, the ills done to indigenous people over decades and centuries of colonialism in this country are shameful and are something that we need to learn from and move forward on. That includes respecting the rights of indigenous people now in all their different aspects. That is why we are working with survivors, working with communities to ensure that we can move forward in a way that is fully respectful of all their rights as we get to the bottom of this, understand their history, and make reparations in the right way moving forward.

Mr. Speaker, children at St. Anne's Residential School suffered nightmarish levels of abuse, torture, and child rape, yet the office of the Attorney General suppressed thousands of pages of police evidence that identified those perpetrators and in doing so, they had cases thrown out and undermined the hearings. Now that the justice department has been forced to turn over those documents, they claim it is inadmissible unless a survivor finds a witness to verify these atrocities.To the Prime Minister, enough. The survivors of St. Anne's deserve better. Will he instruct his government to end this obstruction of justice against the survivors of St. Anne's, once and for all?

Mr. Speaker, what we are seeing is the dilemma that the opposition members are grappling with. They cannot criticize us or even attack us on our economic record, which is extremely positive for Canadians, for the middle class. Instead they have decided to launch a smear campaign and hide behind parliamentary privilege by not repeating their allegations outside this chamber. I know that Canadians expect better from all members of the House, including the opposition members. Let us see if they start to live up to those expectations.

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House we have a very simple principle of listening to Canadians. That is what we did for years while we were the third party in the House. That is what we continue to do to stay connected with Canadians. Unfortunately, for 10 years, Stephen Harper did not do a very good job of listening to Canadians and over the past two years, we see that the Conservatives are doing exactly the same thing. They did not listen to Canadians tell them that baseless attacks and personal mudslinging jobs have no attraction with Canadians who want real—

Mr. Speaker, in his apology to the LGBTQ2 community yesterday, the Prime Minister acknowledged that there is still much work to do. A bill to expunge criminal convictions for consensual sexual activity between same-sex partners has been introduced. However, the bill to make the age of consent the same for everyone has been languishing on the Order Paper for a long time now. Will the Prime Minister commit to working with us to pass both of these bills before the House rises for the holidays?

Mr. Speaker, 200 million women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation. Today, the United Nations tweeted, as part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence that “FGM is a human rights violation. You must end cutting now for a better future for young girls”.Canada's citizenship guide informs newcomers that FGM is a crime in Canada. However, Canada's Prime Minister has decided to delete this information. Will the Prime Minister stand with the United Nations and FGM survivors and reverse his decision?

Mr. Speaker, once again the opposition has nothing better to do than sling mud. We are showing how to create economic growth after 10 years of sluggish economic growth under Stephen Harper, when we experienced the worst growth rate since before World War II. The work we are doing now will lead to real benefits for Canadians. The opposition had nothing better to do than make personal attacks and mount a smear campaign.

Mr. Speaker, again, there are no secrets here. If the member opposite has an allegation, if he wants to say something, he should say what he means. He should say it here and he should say it now. He should stand and say it, and then he should go out in the foyer and say it again.

Mr. Speaker, not only did he not answer the question, he decided not to answer, period. He had nothing against the question, but he certainly has something against the answer.How can anyone believe what the finance minister says anymore? It seems that he is constantly annoyed just at the simple questions we are asking, which are necessary and vital for a healthy democracy. He can never give a straight answer. I have a tip for him. Avoiding questions and threatening legal consequences to silence critics does nothing to exonerate him. In fact, it is making things worse. I would suggest another strategy that all Canadians could appreciate: telling the truth.When will the Prime Minister ask the finance minister to tell the truth?

Mr. Speaker, there are no secrets here. As has been reported in the press, when I came into office, I sold some shares. As has been reported, when I came into office, I made a $5 million donation to charity. As we know, we campaigned to 36 million Canadians that we would raise taxes on the 1%, which we did. As everyone knows, except for perhaps the opposition, no one knows what the stock market will do in advance. Therefore, if the members opposite have something they want to say, they should say it here, say it now clearly, and in the foyer.

Mr. Speaker, inconveniently for the Prime Minister, that is simply not true. Not only is the finance minister failing to follow the rules, he is also not very good at his job. He promised to run a deficit of only $10 billion, and of course he has blown right past that. He promised that wealthy Canadians would pay more, but after his measures came in, the top 1% ended up paying less, all the while 80% of working Canadians are paying more. The finance minister is not competent and he cannot follow the rules. Why is he still in cabinet?

Mr. Speaker, we are happy to keep asking questions. The reason the finance minister is in trouble is that he simply cannot answer the questions. He misled Canadians about putting his assets into a blind trust. He was fined for holding onto an offshore corporation and not disclosing it, and he introduced pension legislation that could benefit him and his family company. Now he is refusing to answer simple questions about personal, multi-million dollar transactions in Morneau Shepell.How is it that the Prime Minister is able to blindly trust someone who has demonstrated such ethical lapses?

Mr. Speaker, I am simply asking the question. That side is demanding that we make allegations against the finance minister. It is a very strange way for question period to unfold.The reality is that, if a chief financial officer sold stocks a week before disappointing quarterly financial results were released, losing his job would be the least of his problems. He would be fired. Will the CEO of the Government of Canada fire his CFO now?

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Environment is facing court action for failing to comply with laws protecting Canada's boreal woodland caribou. She has just this week received a petition seeking an order to protect the critical habitat of five severely threatened caribou herds in northeastern Alberta. Successive governments have failed in their mandatory duties to ensure the protection. The province admits it lacks the necessary powers.Will the environment minister immediately recommend to the government to issue a section 61 order to save these herds?

Now, Mr. Speaker, we see a bit of damage control where the opposition is trying to hide behind lawyers and hide behind parliamentary privilege. On Monday, the opposition made allegations that its members have refused to repeat outside the chamber. The member for Carleton swept out of this chamber, and then refused to repeat what he had said on Monday outside the chamber. Now they are backtracking, because their lawyers have told them to. These are the kinds of attacks and campaign of throwing dirt which they have been doing.

Mr. Speaker, not only is the Minister of Finance not following the rules, but he also has a very poor track record. Despite what he and the Prime Minister claim, the deficit is double the $10 billion that he promised; the wealthiest Canadians pay less tax, not more; and middle-class families are paying 80% more tax, not less. This minister cannot count and cannot follow the rules.Why, then, is he still the Minister of Finance?

Mr. Speaker, from coast to coast to coast, housing advocates are raving about Canada's first-ever national housing strategy. Many are calling the national housing strategy a game-changer. Others are saying that the national housing strategy is a model of how modern progressive policy-making should be done. No less an authority than the UN special rapporteur on housing is calling the strategy “an incredible moment for Canada and our leadership on human rights.”Could the Prime Minister please inform the House what the first-ever national housing strategy means for all Canadians?

What a complete mess, Mr. Speaker, and the Minister of Finance has only himself to blame. On November 30, 2015, someone sold 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell, just a week before the minister announced tax measures that would eventually lower the value of those shares.The minister himself confirmed having sold that many shares. He could have avoided this whole mess from the beginning by denying that it had anything to do with him, by denying that he sold the shares on November 30, but he refuses to do so.Why, then, has the Prime Minister not called on his Minister of Finance to give a clear answer?

Mr. Speaker, the members of the opposition cannot even keep their story straight in their attacks. For weeks, they demanded that the finance minister sell his shares. Now, they are saying that he should not have sold his shares. They are all over the place in their attacks, because that is just what they do. Meanwhile, we remain focused on Canadians, on lowering taxes for the middle class, on lowering taxes for small businesses, on creating investments in infrastructure that will help Canadians from coast to coast to coast, on delivering on the promises we made in the election campaign on which Canadians are counting.

Mr. Speaker, once again we are happy to take questions inside this chamber. However, at issue are the statements that the members opposite made on Monday that they are unwilling to repeat outside. That is the question. Will the member for Carleton walk outside and repeat the statements made on Monday outside, where he is not hiding behind parliamentary privilege?

Mr. Speaker, what is extraordinary is a finance minister who breaks the law and fails to report his offshore company.What is also extraordinary is implying that he put all of his money in a blind trust, but in fact keeping it, knowingly, invested in a company he regulates. It is also extraordinary that he introduced a bill that would help that company with changes to pension law. It is extraordinary that after three days of questioning, he still cannot tell us if he sold shares in that company just a week before he introduced tax legislation.With these extraordinary failures, will he resign?

Mr. Speaker, once again, the members opposite are insinuating things that they do not want to come right out and say and that they certainly would not say outside the House. They are hiding behind parliamentary privilege. That is proof that this is nothing but a smear campaign against a finance minister who is managing the country so well that Canada has the strongest growth in the G7. We created 500,000 new jobs, and we are helping families across the country. We are going to continue in that direction.

Mr. Speaker, again, we see the challenge that the Conservatives find themselves in. A great example is our commitment to lower taxes on small businesses. For months, they spent all their time trying to scare small businesses like pizza shop owners and plumbers that we were going to hurt them or raise their taxes while we consistently said that we were going to stand up for them and ensure that the measures we had only affected the most wealthy. Then, at the end of it all, they find themselves unable to actually criticize us because we are doing the right thing, as we said we would, and they have—

Mr. Speaker, again, we can see the dilemma in which the opposition finds itself.We have demonstrated that on what was supposed to be their strength, the economy, our plan actually works far better than any of theirs ever did. It leaves them with very little to be able to attack us on.The economy is doing well. The middle class is growing, and it is being supported. We are putting up the best growth numbers of anyone in the G7, thanks to our extraordinary finance minister.All the opposition has to do is sling mud, make baseless allegations, and hide behind parliamentary privilege.

Mr. Speaker, I think the Prime Minister and the finance minister are jumping the gun. The accusations have not been made, because we are just trying to get an answer to the question. Was it the finance minister who sold 680,000 shares days before the motion was tabled in the House? It is up to him to answer the question. If he did it, will he defend it? If he did not do it, why can he just not say it?

Mr. Speaker, this is a newsflash for the Prime Minister. We have said all of these exact things outside the House as well as inside. The Prime Minister's own clear promise to Canadians was that he and his ministers must not be in a conflict of interest or even in “the appearance of a conflict of interest.” The Prime Minister said that he would be different. He said that he would answer questions. Let us test that promise. Has the Prime Minister asked his finance minister if he cleared the sale of $10 million of shares with the Ethics Commissioner before he introduced major changes to the tax code? By not holding his finance minister accountable, how would he expect any Canadian to believe anything he has to say?

Mr. Speaker, I can understand that it be the Leader of the Opposition who chooses to get up again. The member for Carleton refused to repeat the allegations he made on Monday outside the House yesterday. He is hiding behind parliamentary privilege. I do not blame the Leader of the Opposition for taking his place right now.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and the finance minister cannot answer simple questions. We have asked them if the finance minister meet with the Ethics Commissioner before tabling Bill C-27. They cannot answer that. We have asked whether it was the finance minister himself who sold the shares just days before tax measures became public here in the House of Commons. They cannot answer that. They cannot hide behind sweeping dismissals based on personal accusations. It is up to them to answer these questions.We have an obligation to defend the interests of taxpayers. Canadians need to know there is not one set of rules for Liberals and another set of rules for everybody else. Will the finance minister finally do the right thing and resign?

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member opposite for his long advocacy for human rights, for LGBTQ2 rights, and for the rights of all Canadians over many years. It was an honour to stand with him in this House yesterday.As the member mentions, there is still much work to be done and we look forward to working with all members of this House to get it done as quickly as we can.

Again, Mr. Speaker, we have courts that are very able to determine facts in cases like this. However, the member opposite, by only saying these sorts of things in this chamber, protected by parliamentary privilege, as we all should be, is demonstrating that he does not want to test his allegations in the courts. He does not want to actually have to stand behind his words in a court of law. That is the baselessness of the facts.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect the government to be accountable. Canadians expect the Minister of Finance to give clear answers. Canadians certainly do not expect the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance to be under investigation by the Ethics Commissioner. Canadians certainly do expect the Minister of Finance to be able to tell us whether he was or was not the person who sold 680,000 shares one week before he introduced tax measures that led to a 5% drop in the share price of his family business. Was it him or not?

Mr. Speaker, what we have learned from talking to Canadians, whether it be in Lac-Saint-Jean, South Surrey—White Rock, or anywhere else in the country, is that they recognize that our economic growth record, the impact of the Canada child benefit, the tax cut for the middle class, and the tax hike for the wealthy are helping our communities, helping families, and helping individuals. That is what we are doing, and that is why the opposition members are conducting a smear campaign, because they cannot find anything else to criticize.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday was an important day for everyone in the the House, for all Canadians, and for future generations. Recognizing the harm we did as an institution and as a country to members of the LGBTQ2 community was essential. However, as the member said, there is still much work to do.We will keep moving forward with changes to our laws, practical changes that send a clear message to the LGBTQ2 community that the discrimination and harm they were subjected to will never happen again.

Mr. Speaker, in Canada, financial executives have to disclose any transactions they make on the stock market. These measures were put in place to prevent insider trading.The Minister of Finance is Canada's chief financial officer. He is the one who makes the rules. Consequently, he must be above reproach and lead by example.If the Minister of Finance does not want to be transparent with Canadians, how can the Prime Minister still trust him?

Mr. Speaker, the 2016 political financing report reveals a coincidence in the Papineau riding that is troubling, to say the least. On July 6 and 7, 2016, while the Liberal government was approving a Chinese bank in Vancouver, the Prime Minister received nearly $70,000 for his riding from wealthy Chinese individuals from Vancouver. That was nearly two-thirds of his political financing in under 48 hours.Can he explain that to us?

Mr. Speaker, the Social Security Tribunal of Canada is a real disaster. Some unemployed workers have had to wait more than a year for a hearing. That is unacceptable.During the election campaign, the Prime Minister promised to reform this process. Two years later, nothing has been done. Although the Liberals have a KPMG report on how make the tribunal more efficient, they have yet to release it.Are we to understand that the recommendations are not to their liking?

Mr. Speaker, John Chang and Allison Lu are Canadian citizens who have been unfairly detained in China since March 2016 over a customs dispute. According to their daughter Amy, who is in Ottawa today, it has been over six months since she has had discussions with multiple ministers in the government who said they would look into it and move on this, and yet she has heard nothing. We need to bring John and Allison home. As the Prime Minister heads to China next week, will he promise to raise this issue and refuse to discuss any new trade agreement with China until John and Allison are released?

Mr. Speaker, opposition members have a job to do. They have to oppose. The challenge they have right now, despite 10 years of terrible economic stories from Stephen Harper's Conservative government, is that we have been able to demonstrate record growth and record job creation. We have helped millions of Canadians by lowering taxes on the middle class and raising them on the wealthiest 1%. They voted against those measures. However, they now have nothing to do except make wild accusations and sling mud. That is simply what they do.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to have full confidence in the Minister of Finance. One only has to look at the half a million new jobs to understand why. The minister has lowered taxes for the middle class and increased taxes on the wealthiest 1%. He created the Canada child benefit, which helps nine out of ten families and which will lower child poverty by 40% across the country. He is giving more money to the most vulnerable seniors. He is lowering taxes for small business. He is managing the G7's best-performing economy. We continue to have confidence in—

Mr. Speaker, one of the ways for Canadians to judge what members say is to see whether they are prepared to repeat their comments outside the House, where there is no parliamentary privilege.I would suggest that my friend opposite be very explicit in his comments, inside and outside the House. We will see if he really wants to support the allegations he is making.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I invited the finance minister to meet me out in the foyer, where I could repeat the same question out there that I asked in here. Unfortunately, he was a no-show. I will give him another chance. Where and when would he like to meet outside of this chamber so I can ask the same question and maybe he could answer it?

Mr. Speaker, I am absolutely happy to answer the question. As has been reported in the press, I did sell shares when I came into office. What I can say, with absolute clarity, is that what we are doing here is we are focusing on something because those members do not want to focus on something else. What they do not want to focus on is how well things are going for Canadians. That is what we will continue to be focused on. We will pursue what we know is in the best interests of Canadians. That is working. That is what we are going to continue to do.

I thank the member for Scarborough Centre for her extraordinary community leadership. The national housing strategy is not just the first-ever national housing strategy in Canada, it is also the first time a federal government has committed itself to a human rights-based approach to housing. We are going to reduce chronic homelessness by 50%, build up to 400,000 new, repaired, or renovated units, and remove half a million households and individuals from housing need. We are all proud of delivering real and historic change to the Canadians who need it most.

Answer the question.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister says they have one principle, actually they have two different principles, one for themselves and one for everyone else. For example, when the minister brought in his tax increase on small businesses, there was a higher rate for the pizza shop owner and the plumber, but no new taxes for his company Morneau Shepell. When he brought in his tax increase that would affect people on their capital gains, he made sure, or did he, to sell his shares before that tax increase came into effect while others would have to pay more.Why will he not follow the simple principle of accountability?

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are jealous of our economic record. For 10 years, they showed the lowest growth numbers since R. B. Bennett in the Great Depression.We, in two years, by doing exactly what we committed to do in the election campaign, putting more money in the pockets of the middle class and those working hard to join it, have turned around the Canadian economy and shown that the Conservative policy of helping the rich and giving benefits to the most wealthy does not work.We are delivering lower taxes for the middle class, raising them on the wealthiest one per cent, and helping Canadian families.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians well know that wherever I travel around the world, I stand up for Canadian values and human rights and will continue to, including in China. The plight of Canadians, anywhere around the world, is of deep concern to our government. That is why we have had so much good news over the past two years in our capacity to bring Canadians home. We know that engaging with China to be able to set the rules and ensure opportunities for Canadian workers and Canadian businesses to succeed in a globalized world is just the right thing to do, and we will do it while standing up for Canadian values and human rights.

You see, Mr. Speaker, once again the member opposite seems a little bit muddled. This is the room for questions. For him to go outside is to make a statement—

Mr. Speaker, Canada is a generous and compassionate country. We know that we must help those in need here at home and around the world.We are always looking for ways to do more for people. I know that the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship is currently taking a close look at this case. I know that everyone wants to ensure the best outcome in this situation, while maintaining the integrity of our robust immigration system.

Mr. Speaker, the decline of print media is hitting our regions hard. Back home, in Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean, ad revenue at newspapers like Le Quotidien and Le Progrès week-end is dwindling.Since the Liberal government claims to care about information, it must take action and support print media, just like it supported other industries in which so many jobs were at stake.Will the government commit to providing temporary financial assistance to print media and help maintain good jobs, while the industry awaits a permanent solution?

Mr. Speaker, all the facts that have been said inside the House by opposition MPs have been repeated outside the House. Those are yesterday's talking points that the Prime Minister is going on. However, when we look at the facts, the Liberal campaign platform would lead Canadians to believe that the fiscal changes would take place and come into effect on April 1, 2016. Only when the finance minister decided they would come into effect in December 2015, and only when the public knew about that, would markets move. Days before that decision was announced to Canadians, 680,000 shares were sold. Was it the finance minister who made the sale?

Mr. Speaker, after all the harm caused by the former Conservative government to workers across the country who counted on employment insurance, we made a commitment during the election campaign to reverse the changes to employment insurance made by the Conservative government.That is exactly what we did. We are making sure that Canadians who have lost their jobs get the help they need, and we continue to make investments to ensure that happens. Our work is ongoing.

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister is answering questions and I am answering questions. We continue to remain focused on the things that matter to Canadians. That is why we created over half a million jobs over the past two years, why we have the strongest growth rate in the G7, why we delivered a tax cut for the middle class and raised taxes on the wealthiest 1%, and why we delivered a Canada child benefit that helps nine out of 10 families. Unfortunately, on that child benefit, members opposite, NDP and Conservative, voted against it.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Yukon for his question and his excellent French.I am pleased to announce the nomination of the Hon. Sheilah L. Martin to the Supreme Court. With her wealth of experience and the many distinctions she has earned, she will be a valuable addition to the Supreme Court.Justice Martin is my second nomination under our new selection process, which promotes greater openness, transparency, and accountability. We are committed to appointing justices of the highest calibre, functionally bilingual, and representative of our diversity.Permit me also to once again thank Chief Justice McLachlin for her extraordinary service to Canada.

Mr. Speaker, the minister still will not answer that specific question. On November 30, 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell were sold. Was it the finance minister who sold those shares?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I repeated outside of the House the same questions that I have been asking inside of the House. Unfortunately, the minister will not answer those questions in either of those two places. Somebody sold $10 million of shares a week before the minister introduced tax changes that caused the stock market and Morneau Shepell shares to drop. Was that somebody him?

Mr. Speaker, I think the Prime Minister has rehearsed yesterday's talking points. In fact, our finance shadow minister did go outside the House and repeated everything that was said inside the House. It may be a standard practice on Bay Street to threaten legal action any time legitimate questions are raised, but that is not befitting of a finance minister. If he believes he did nothing wrong, could the finance minister simply confirm or deny whether it was he who sold 680,000 shares days before the motion to change taxes was tabled in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry that what the opposition member has in front of him is not relevant, but the finance minister just answered that question.

Mr. Speaker, it is good to see the finance minister being allowed to answer a question. If he is so sure that he has done nothing wrong, will he answer one very specific question, and this question has been posed in the House as well as outside of the House. Was it he who sold 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell just days before the motion was tabled in the House to change the tax—

Mr. Speaker, we have reached a new low in this House. The opposition members—

Mr. Speaker, Elections Canada is there to ensure that all political financing rules are followed at all times. I am proud of the political financing rules that apply here in the House of Commons and at the federal level. We will always make sure that all rules are being followed.

Mr. Speaker, speaking of the most wealthy, we know that those with good financial advice, who were privileged to know what they should do with their money, declared their income in the 2015 tax year. They sold their shares before the year finished, and therefore were taxed at a lower rate than they wanted charged on other people.One of them might have been the finance minister, if he did in fact sell the $10 million worth of shares on November 30, 2015. Did he?

Mr. Speaker, here are the facts: on November 30, 2015, an individual sold 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares. One week later, the Minister of Finance introduced a tax measure that resulted in a 5% loss in the value of Morneau Shepell. Earlier, the minister rose and spoke in English. I will now give him the opportunity to answer clearly in French.Did he sell his shares or not?

Mr. Speaker, I have full confidence in the Minister of Finance, and one only has to look at the half a million new jobs to understand why. However, it is interesting. We have created Prime Minister's question period on Wednesdays to give an opportunity to backbench MPs to ask questions of the Prime Minister directly. If the member opposite wants to see how much confidence I have in the Minister of Finance, he just needs to keep asking these questions.

Mr. Speaker, after yesterday's historic apology to the LGBTQ community and with the answer we just had from the Prime Minister, we see an opportunity here to begin to address some of the unfinished business the Prime Minister has been talking about. In order to do that, will the Prime Minister join us in seeking agreement from all members of this House to deal with Bill C-66 before Christmas, so that gay men with criminal records for same-sex consensual activity can have those records extinguished?

Mr. Speaker, fact: on December 7, the minister introduced tax changes that gave an incentive for investors to sell their stocks and realize their capital gains before the new year and before the new tax increase would take effect; fact: the stock market dropped and Morneau Shepell shares dropped by 5%; fact: the finance department has revealed that this phenomenon led to a reduction in revenues of almost $1 billion in the subsequent year. These are all facts. He sold his shares at some point. I am asking again. Did he sell them immediately before he introduced that measure, yes or no?

Mr. Speaker, we take seriously the responsibility of protecting our natural environment. We know that protecting the environment and growing the economy go together. We will continue to work with our partners, including conservation groups and provinces and territories, to ensure that we are fulfilling all our obligations in terms of protection, protecting species at risk, in terms of keeping our environment protected for future generations.

Mr. Speaker, here is a concrete example of one of our government's successes on the agricultural front.In July, the Minister of Agriculture signed an agreement with his provincial and territorial counterparts on the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, Canada's next five-year agricultural policy framework.Can the Prime Minister tell the House about the kinds of investments and programs we can expect to see under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership?

Mr. Speaker, on Christmas Eve 2016, Nicolas Faubert of Mont-Saint-Hilaire died in a tragic accident. He was sponsoring his spouse, Sophie Thewys, and her son for permanent residence.The application was approved, but because of his tragic death, Sophie was sent back to square one. This appalling lack of compassion is preventing a single mother from grieving properly.I have written authorization, so the government cannot hide behind privacy excuses.Will the government right this injustice and give Sophie permanent resident status?

Mr. Speaker, we understand how much Canadians rely on local media to read the local news that brings them together as a community.We will continue to spend millions of advertising dollars to support local newspapers. We recognize that the industry is going through a transformation. We will continue to support the media, because a democratic society needs strong, free media.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister announced today that his pick for appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada is the Hon. Sheilah L. Martin.This nomination will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, after a remarkable legal career.Justice Martin had been sitting on the courts of appeal of Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. She previously sat on Alberta's Court of Queen's Bench and the Yukon Supreme Court.Would the Prime Minister please inform the House how this selection was made?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia for his question and for his leadership of the Quebec caucus.Last week, we announced a $1-million federal investment as part of the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. This investment will open markets for our farmers, make the sector more innovative and sustainable, and strengthen the sector by better reflecting the diversity of our communities and supporting public trust.

Mr. Speaker, we are happy to keep asking—

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry that what the opposition member has in front of him is not relevant, but the finance minister just answered that question.

Mr. Speaker, on Christmas Eve 2016, Nicolas Faubert of Mont-Saint-Hilaire died in a tragic accident. He was sponsoring his spouse, Sophie Thewys, and her son for permanent residence.The application was approved, but because of his tragic death, Sophie was sent back to square one. This appalling lack of compassion is preventing a single mother from grieving properly.I have written authorization, so the government cannot hide behind privacy excuses.Will the government right this injustice and give Sophie permanent resident status?

Mr. Speaker, once again, the NDP and the Conservatives are pretending there was some sort of secret here, that we were going to lower taxes for the middle class and raise them on the wealthiest 1%. We campaigned on that promise. They lost because of that promise. I know they remember it. The fabrications and the personal attacks, the slinging of mud in this place, and hiding behind parliamentary privilege is not what Canadians expect from this place.

Now, Mr. Speaker, we see a bit of damage control where the opposition is trying to hide behind lawyers and hide behind parliamentary privilege. On Monday, the opposition made allegations that its members have refused to repeat outside the chamber. The member for Carleton swept out of this chamber, and then refused to repeat what he had said on Monday outside the chamber. Now they are backtracking, because their lawyers have told them to. These are the kinds of attacks and campaign of throwing dirt which they have been doing.

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister is answering questions and I am answering questions. We continue to remain focused on the things that matter to Canadians. That is why we created over half a million jobs over the past two years, why we have the strongest growth rate in the G7, why we delivered a tax cut for the middle class and raised taxes on the wealthiest 1%, and why we delivered a Canada child benefit that helps nine out of 10 families. Unfortunately, on that child benefit, members opposite, NDP and Conservative, voted against it.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I repeated outside of the House the same questions that I have been asking inside of the House. Unfortunately, the minister will not answer those questions in either of those two places. Somebody sold $10 million of shares a week before the minister introduced tax changes that caused the stock market and Morneau Shepell shares to drop. Was that somebody him?

Mr. Speaker, I am simply asking the question. That side is demanding that we make allegations against the finance minister. It is a very strange way for question period to unfold.The reality is that, if a chief financial officer sold stocks a week before disappointing quarterly financial results were released, losing his job would be the least of his problems. He would be fired. Will the CEO of the Government of Canada fire his CFO now?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I invited the finance minister to meet me out in the foyer, where I could repeat the same question out there that I asked in here. Unfortunately, he was a no-show. I will give him another chance. Where and when would he like to meet outside of this chamber so I can ask the same question and maybe he could answer it?

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Environment is facing court action for failing to comply with laws protecting Canada's boreal woodland caribou. She has just this week received a petition seeking an order to protect the critical habitat of five severely threatened caribou herds in northeastern Alberta. Successive governments have failed in their mandatory duties to ensure the protection. The province admits it lacks the necessary powers.Will the environment minister immediately recommend to the government to issue a section 61 order to save these herds?

Mr. Speaker, John Chang and Allison Lu are Canadian citizens who have been unfairly detained in China since March 2016 over a customs dispute. According to their daughter Amy, who is in Ottawa today, it has been over six months since she has had discussions with multiple ministers in the government who said they would look into it and move on this, and yet she has heard nothing. We need to bring John and Allison home. As the Prime Minister heads to China next week, will he promise to raise this issue and refuse to discuss any new trade agreement with China until John and Allison are released?

Mr. Speaker, we take seriously the responsibility of protecting our natural environment. We know that protecting the environment and growing the economy go together. We will continue to work with our partners, including conservation groups and provinces and territories, to ensure that we are fulfilling all our obligations in terms of protection, protecting species at risk, in terms of keeping our environment protected for future generations.

Mr. Speaker, you see, once again the lawyers have got into their questions.On Monday, the member for Carleton made a very clear accusation in this House. He then swept out of the House yesterday and did not repeat that allegation outside of the House. He is hiding behind parliamentary privilege, which is why Canadians can know that this is nothing but unfounded, personal, baseless attacks and not a substantive criticism of the government.

Mr. Speaker, not only is the Minister of Finance unable to answer questions and follow the rules, but he cannot count.He said the deficit would be $10 billion; it was $20 billion. He said taxes would go up on the richest; in fact, the rich are paying $1 billion less. He said taxes would go down for the middle class, but 87% of them are paying more.When will the Prime Minister do the right thing and fire this incompetent minister who cannot follow the rules?

You see, Mr. Speaker, once again the member opposite seems a little bit muddled. This is the room for questions. For him to go outside is to make a statement—

Mr. Speaker, enough is enough. The Minister of Finance is in trouble up to his eyeballs. He misled the House and benefited from a bill he introduced. He put himself in a conflict of interest and he is under investigation.Somehow, thousands of shares in Morneau Shepell were sold a few days before a major tax announcement. When people say they no longer believe politicians and that they think we are all crooks, that is why. The Liberals were elected to restore public confidence.How can the Prime minister have confidence in his Minister of Finance?

Mr. Speaker, not only is the Minister of Finance not following the rules, but he also has a very poor track record. Despite what he and the Prime Minister claim, the deficit is double the $10 billion that he promised; the wealthiest Canadians pay less tax, not more; and middle-class families are paying 80% more tax, not less. This minister cannot count and cannot follow the rules.Why, then, is he still the Minister of Finance?

Mr. Speaker, I can understand that it be the Leader of the Opposition who chooses to get up again. The member for Carleton refused to repeat the allegations he made on Monday outside the House yesterday. He is hiding behind parliamentary privilege. I do not blame the Leader of the Opposition for taking his place right now.

Mr. Speaker, I think the Prime Minister has rehearsed yesterday's talking points. In fact, our finance shadow minister did go outside the House and repeated everything that was said inside the House. It may be a standard practice on Bay Street to threaten legal action any time legitimate questions are raised, but that is not befitting of a finance minister. If he believes he did nothing wrong, could the finance minister simply confirm or deny whether it was he who sold 680,000 shares days before the motion to change taxes was tabled in the House.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and the finance minister cannot answer simple questions. We have asked them if the finance minister meet with the Ethics Commissioner before tabling Bill C-27. They cannot answer that. We have asked whether it was the finance minister himself who sold the shares just days before tax measures became public here in the House of Commons. They cannot answer that. They cannot hide behind sweeping dismissals based on personal accusations. It is up to them to answer these questions.We have an obligation to defend the interests of taxpayers. Canadians need to know there is not one set of rules for Liberals and another set of rules for everybody else. Will the finance minister finally do the right thing and resign?

Mr. Speaker, the members of the opposition cannot even keep their story straight in their attacks. For weeks, they demanded that the finance minister sell his shares. Now, they are saying that he should not have sold his shares. They are all over the place in their attacks, because that is just what they do. Meanwhile, we remain focused on Canadians, on lowering taxes for the middle class, on lowering taxes for small businesses, on creating investments in infrastructure that will help Canadians from coast to coast to coast, on delivering on the promises we made in the election campaign on which Canadians are counting.

Mr. Speaker, the minister still will not answer that specific question. On November 30, 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell were sold. Was it the finance minister who sold those shares?

Mr. Speaker, in Canada, financial executives have to disclose any transactions they make on the stock market. These measures were put in place to prevent insider trading.The Minister of Finance is Canada's chief financial officer. He is the one who makes the rules. Consequently, he must be above reproach and lead by example.If the Minister of Finance does not want to be transparent with Canadians, how can the Prime Minister still trust him?

Mr. Speaker, I think the Prime Minister and the finance minister are jumping the gun. The accusations have not been made, because we are just trying to get an answer to the question. Was it the finance minister who sold 680,000 shares days before the motion was tabled in the House? It is up to him to answer the question. If he did it, will he defend it? If he did not do it, why can he just not say it?

Mr. Speaker, all the facts that have been said inside the House by opposition MPs have been repeated outside the House. Those are yesterday's talking points that the Prime Minister is going on. However, when we look at the facts, the Liberal campaign platform would lead Canadians to believe that the fiscal changes would take place and come into effect on April 1, 2016. Only when the finance minister decided they would come into effect in December 2015, and only when the public knew about that, would markets move. Days before that decision was announced to Canadians, 680,000 shares were sold. Was it the finance minister who made the sale?

Answer the question.

Mr. Speaker, after yesterday's historic apology to the LGBTQ community and with the answer we just had from the Prime Minister, we see an opportunity here to begin to address some of the unfinished business the Prime Minister has been talking about. In order to do that, will the Prime Minister join us in seeking agreement from all members of this House to deal with Bill C-66 before Christmas, so that gay men with criminal records for same-sex consensual activity can have those records extinguished?

Mr. Speaker, opposition members have a job to do. They have to oppose. The challenge they have right now, despite 10 years of terrible economic stories from Stephen Harper's Conservative government, is that we have been able to demonstrate record growth and record job creation. We have helped millions of Canadians by lowering taxes on the middle class and raising them on the wealthiest 1%. They voted against those measures. However, they now have nothing to do except make wild accusations and sling mud. That is simply what they do.

I have some facts for you, Mr. Speaker. Over the past two years, it has been proven that the Minister of Finance violated ethics laws. He forgot to put his assets in a blind trust. He forgot to declare his villa in France. He refuses to disclose his numbered companies. The cherry on top is this business with his block of 680,000 shares worth over $10 million that were sold just before a measure was introduced in the House. No one trusts this finance minister anymore.What is the Prime Minister waiting for to fire him?

Mr. Speaker, 200 million women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation. Today, the United Nations tweeted, as part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence that “FGM is a human rights violation. You must end cutting now for a better future for young girls”.Canada's citizenship guide informs newcomers that FGM is a crime in Canada. However, Canada's Prime Minister has decided to delete this information. Will the Prime Minister stand with the United Nations and FGM survivors and reverse his decision?

Mr. Speaker, we are happy to keep asking questions. The reason the finance minister is in trouble is that he simply cannot answer the questions. He misled Canadians about putting his assets into a blind trust. He was fined for holding onto an offshore corporation and not disclosing it, and he introduced pension legislation that could benefit him and his family company. Now he is refusing to answer simple questions about personal, multi-million dollar transactions in Morneau Shepell.How is it that the Prime Minister is able to blindly trust someone who has demonstrated such ethical lapses?

Mr. Speaker, once again, the members opposite are insinuating things that they do not want to come right out and say and that they certainly would not say outside the House. They are hiding behind parliamentary privilege. That is proof that this is nothing but a smear campaign against a finance minister who is managing the country so well that Canada has the strongest growth in the G7. We created 500,000 new jobs, and we are helping families across the country. We are going to continue in that direction.

Mr. Speaker, not only did he not answer the question, he decided not to answer, period. He had nothing against the question, but he certainly has something against the answer.How can anyone believe what the finance minister says anymore? It seems that he is constantly annoyed just at the simple questions we are asking, which are necessary and vital for a healthy democracy. He can never give a straight answer. I have a tip for him. Avoiding questions and threatening legal consequences to silence critics does nothing to exonerate him. In fact, it is making things worse. I would suggest another strategy that all Canadians could appreciate: telling the truth.When will the Prime Minister ask the finance minister to tell the truth?

Mr. Speaker, inconveniently for the Prime Minister, that is simply not true. Not only is the finance minister failing to follow the rules, he is also not very good at his job. He promised to run a deficit of only $10 billion, and of course he has blown right past that. He promised that wealthy Canadians would pay more, but after his measures came in, the top 1% ended up paying less, all the while 80% of working Canadians are paying more. The finance minister is not competent and he cannot follow the rules. Why is he still in cabinet?

Mr. Speaker, not only do I stand with the United Nations on this and many other issues, I actually, personally, brought up this issue when I was in Liberia, challenging local leaders and local governments to step up on the fight against FGM.We will continue to stand against violence against women. We will continue to lead the way, pushing for an end to these barbaric practices of female genital mutilation, everywhere around the world and here in Canada. This is something we take very seriously.

Mr. Speaker, there are no secrets here. As has been reported in the press, when I came into office, I sold some shares. As has been reported, when I came into office, I made a $5 million donation to charity. As we know, we campaigned to 36 million Canadians that we would raise taxes on the 1%, which we did. As everyone knows, except for perhaps the opposition, no one knows what the stock market will do in advance. Therefore, if the members opposite have something they want to say, they should say it here, say it now clearly, and in the foyer.

Mr. Speaker, in his apology to the LGBTQ2 community yesterday, the Prime Minister acknowledged that there is still much work to do. A bill to expunge criminal convictions for consensual sexual activity between same-sex partners has been introduced. However, the bill to make the age of consent the same for everyone has been languishing on the Order Paper for a long time now. Will the Prime Minister commit to working with us to pass both of these bills before the House rises for the holidays?

Again, Mr. Speaker, we have courts that are very able to determine facts in cases like this. However, the member opposite, by only saying these sorts of things in this chamber, protected by parliamentary privilege, as we all should be, is demonstrating that he does not want to test his allegations in the courts. He does not want to actually have to stand behind his words in a court of law. That is the baselessness of the facts.

Mr. Speaker, the 2016 political financing report reveals a coincidence in the Papineau riding that is troubling, to say the least. On July 6 and 7, 2016, while the Liberal government was approving a Chinese bank in Vancouver, the Prime Minister received nearly $70,000 for his riding from wealthy Chinese individuals from Vancouver. That was nearly two-thirds of his political financing in under 48 hours.Can he explain that to us?

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House we have a very simple principle of listening to Canadians. That is what we did for years while we were the third party in the House. That is what we continue to do to stay connected with Canadians. Unfortunately, for 10 years, Stephen Harper did not do a very good job of listening to Canadians and over the past two years, we see that the Conservatives are doing exactly the same thing. They did not listen to Canadians tell them that baseless attacks and personal mudslinging jobs have no attraction with Canadians who want real—

Mr. Speaker, I continue to have full confidence in the Minister of Finance. One only has to look at the half a million new jobs to understand why. The minister has lowered taxes for the middle class and increased taxes on the wealthiest 1%. He created the Canada child benefit, which helps nine out of ten families and which will lower child poverty by 40% across the country. He is giving more money to the most vulnerable seniors. He is lowering taxes for small business. He is managing the G7's best-performing economy. We continue to have confidence in—

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister says they have one principle, actually they have two different principles, one for themselves and one for everyone else. For example, when the minister brought in his tax increase on small businesses, there was a higher rate for the pizza shop owner and the plumber, but no new taxes for his company Morneau Shepell. When he brought in his tax increase that would affect people on their capital gains, he made sure, or did he, to sell his shares before that tax increase came into effect while others would have to pay more.Why will he not follow the simple principle of accountability?

Mr. Speaker, children at St. Anne's Residential School suffered nightmarish levels of abuse, torture, and child rape, yet the office of the Attorney General suppressed thousands of pages of police evidence that identified those perpetrators and in doing so, they had cases thrown out and undermined the hearings. Now that the justice department has been forced to turn over those documents, they claim it is inadmissible unless a survivor finds a witness to verify these atrocities.To the Prime Minister, enough. The survivors of St. Anne's deserve better. Will he instruct his government to end this obstruction of justice against the survivors of St. Anne's, once and for all?

Mr. Speaker, once again we are happy to take questions inside this chamber. However, at issue are the statements that the members opposite made on Monday that they are unwilling to repeat outside. That is the question. Will the member for Carleton walk outside and repeat the statements made on Monday outside, where he is not hiding behind parliamentary privilege?

Mr. Speaker, we have reached a new low in this House. The opposition members—

Again we see, Mr. Speaker, that the opposition members are filled with sound and fury, signifying nothing. They refuse to actually follow up on the insinuations and allegations they made clearly in this House on Monday because they realized they went too far, because their desire to attack and to sling mud against the honour and integrity of people on this side of the House crossed some lines. That is why they are unable and unwilling to go out and repeat what they said on Monday outside of this House, which tells Canadians that this is nothing but bluster.

Mr. Speaker, here is a concrete example of one of our government's successes on the agricultural front.In July, the Minister of Agriculture signed an agreement with his provincial and territorial counterparts on the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, Canada's next five-year agricultural policy framework.Can the Prime Minister tell the House about the kinds of investments and programs we can expect to see under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership?

Mr. Speaker, one of the ways for Canadians to judge what members say is to see whether they are prepared to repeat their comments outside the House, where there is no parliamentary privilege.I would suggest that my friend opposite be very explicit in his comments, inside and outside the House. We will see if he really wants to support the allegations he is making.

Mr. Speaker, fact: on December 7, the minister introduced tax changes that gave an incentive for investors to sell their stocks and realize their capital gains before the new year and before the new tax increase would take effect; fact: the stock market dropped and Morneau Shepell shares dropped by 5%; fact: the finance department has revealed that this phenomenon led to a reduction in revenues of almost $1 billion in the subsequent year. These are all facts. He sold his shares at some point. I am asking again. Did he sell them immediately before he introduced that measure, yes or no?

Mr. Speaker, what we are seeing is the dilemma that the opposition members are grappling with. They cannot criticize us or even attack us on our economic record, which is extremely positive for Canadians, for the middle class. Instead they have decided to launch a smear campaign and hide behind parliamentary privilege by not repeating their allegations outside this chamber. I know that Canadians expect better from all members of the House, including the opposition members. Let us see if they start to live up to those expectations.

Mr. Speaker, what is extraordinary is a finance minister who breaks the law and fails to report his offshore company.What is also extraordinary is implying that he put all of his money in a blind trust, but in fact keeping it, knowingly, invested in a company he regulates. It is also extraordinary that he introduced a bill that would help that company with changes to pension law. It is extraordinary that after three days of questioning, he still cannot tell us if he sold shares in that company just a week before he introduced tax legislation.With these extraordinary failures, will he resign?

Mr. Speaker, again, there are no secrets here. If the member opposite has an allegation, if he wants to say something, he should say what he means. He should say it here and he should say it now. He should stand and say it, and then he should go out in the foyer and say it again.

Mr. Speaker, again, we see the challenge that the Conservatives find themselves in. A great example is our commitment to lower taxes on small businesses. For months, they spent all their time trying to scare small businesses like pizza shop owners and plumbers that we were going to hurt them or raise their taxes while we consistently said that we were going to stand up for them and ensure that the measures we had only affected the most wealthy. Then, at the end of it all, they find themselves unable to actually criticize us because we are doing the right thing, as we said we would, and they have—

Mr. Speaker, here are the facts: on November 30, 2015, an individual sold 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares. One week later, the Minister of Finance introduced a tax measure that resulted in a 5% loss in the value of Morneau Shepell. Earlier, the minister rose and spoke in English. I will now give him the opportunity to answer clearly in French.Did he sell his shares or not?

What a complete mess, Mr. Speaker, and the Minister of Finance has only himself to blame. On November 30, 2015, someone sold 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell, just a week before the minister announced tax measures that would eventually lower the value of those shares.The minister himself confirmed having sold that many shares. He could have avoided this whole mess from the beginning by denying that it had anything to do with him, by denying that he sold the shares on November 30, but he refuses to do so.Why, then, has the Prime Minister not called on his Minister of Finance to give a clear answer?

Mr. Speaker, the decline of print media is hitting our regions hard. Back home, in Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean, ad revenue at newspapers like Le Quotidien and Le Progrès week-end is dwindling.Since the Liberal government claims to care about information, it must take action and support print media, just like it supported other industries in which so many jobs were at stake.Will the government commit to providing temporary financial assistance to print media and help maintain good jobs, while the industry awaits a permanent solution?

Mr. Speaker, it is good to see the finance minister being allowed to answer a question. If he is so sure that he has done nothing wrong, will he answer one very specific question, and this question has been posed in the House as well as outside of the House. Was it he who sold 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell just days before the motion was tabled in the House to change the tax—

Mr. Speaker, yesterday was an important day for everyone in the the House, for all Canadians, and for future generations. Recognizing the harm we did as an institution and as a country to members of the LGBTQ2 community was essential. However, as the member said, there is still much work to do.We will keep moving forward with changes to our laws, practical changes that send a clear message to the LGBTQ2 community that the discrimination and harm they were subjected to will never happen again.

Mr. Speaker, I have full confidence in the Minister of Finance, and one only has to look at the half a million new jobs to understand why. However, it is interesting. We have created Prime Minister's question period on Wednesdays to give an opportunity to backbench MPs to ask questions of the Prime Minister directly. If the member opposite wants to see how much confidence I have in the Minister of Finance, he just needs to keep asking these questions.

I will bite my tongue, Mr. Speaker. Everything about the Minister of Finance is shady and hypocritical, yet he is still trying to convince us that the opposite is true by refusing to answer our questions. Canada's finances must be managed by someone who is responsible, transparent, and honest because this is Canadians' money we are talking about.In light of the commissioner's investigations, the minister's personal gains and his refusal to respond to questions about his financial transactions, will the Prime Minister fire his finance minister, yes or no?

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member opposite for his long advocacy for human rights, for LGBTQ2 rights, and for the rights of all Canadians over many years. It was an honour to stand with him in this House yesterday.As the member mentions, there is still much work to be done and we look forward to working with all members of this House to get it done as quickly as we can.

Mr. Speaker, this is a newsflash for the Prime Minister. We have said all of these exact things outside the House as well as inside. The Prime Minister's own clear promise to Canadians was that he and his ministers must not be in a conflict of interest or even in “the appearance of a conflict of interest.” The Prime Minister said that he would be different. He said that he would answer questions. Let us test that promise. Has the Prime Minister asked his finance minister if he cleared the sale of $10 million of shares with the Ethics Commissioner before he introduced major changes to the tax code? By not holding his finance minister accountable, how would he expect any Canadian to believe anything he has to say?

Mr. Speaker, we understand how much Canadians rely on local media to read the local news that brings them together as a community.We will continue to spend millions of advertising dollars to support local newspapers. We recognize that the industry is going through a transformation. We will continue to support the media, because a democratic society needs strong, free media.

Mr. Speaker, once again the opposition has nothing better to do than sling mud. We are showing how to create economic growth after 10 years of sluggish economic growth under Stephen Harper, when we experienced the worst growth rate since before World War II. The work we are doing now will lead to real benefits for Canadians. The opposition had nothing better to do than make personal attacks and mount a smear campaign.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect the government to be accountable. Canadians expect the Minister of Finance to give clear answers. Canadians certainly do not expect the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance to be under investigation by the Ethics Commissioner. Canadians certainly do expect the Minister of Finance to be able to tell us whether he was or was not the person who sold 680,000 shares one week before he introduced tax measures that led to a 5% drop in the share price of his family business. Was it him or not?

Mr. Speaker, again, we can see the dilemma in which the opposition finds itself.We have demonstrated that on what was supposed to be their strength, the economy, our plan actually works far better than any of theirs ever did. It leaves them with very little to be able to attack us on.The economy is doing well. The middle class is growing, and it is being supported. We are putting up the best growth numbers of anyone in the G7, thanks to our extraordinary finance minister.All the opposition has to do is sling mud, make baseless allegations, and hide behind parliamentary privilege.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians well know that wherever I travel around the world, I stand up for Canadian values and human rights and will continue to, including in China. The plight of Canadians, anywhere around the world, is of deep concern to our government. That is why we have had so much good news over the past two years in our capacity to bring Canadians home. We know that engaging with China to be able to set the rules and ensure opportunities for Canadian workers and Canadian businesses to succeed in a globalized world is just the right thing to do, and we will do it while standing up for Canadian values and human rights.

I thank the member for Scarborough Centre for her extraordinary community leadership. The national housing strategy is not just the first-ever national housing strategy in Canada, it is also the first time a federal government has committed itself to a human rights-based approach to housing. We are going to reduce chronic homelessness by 50%, build up to 400,000 new, repaired, or renovated units, and remove half a million households and individuals from housing need. We are all proud of delivering real and historic change to the Canadians who need it most.

Mr. Speaker, what we have learned from talking to Canadians, whether it be in Lac-Saint-Jean, South Surrey—White Rock, or anywhere else in the country, is that they recognize that our economic growth record, the impact of the Canada child benefit, the tax cut for the middle class, and the tax hike for the wealthy are helping our communities, helping families, and helping individuals. That is what we are doing, and that is why the opposition members are conducting a smear campaign, because they cannot find anything else to criticize.

Mr. Speaker, the Social Security Tribunal of Canada is a real disaster. Some unemployed workers have had to wait more than a year for a hearing. That is unacceptable.During the election campaign, the Prime Minister promised to reform this process. Two years later, nothing has been done. Although the Liberals have a KPMG report on how make the tribunal more efficient, they have yet to release it.Are we to understand that the recommendations are not to their liking?

Mr. Speaker, after all the harm caused by the former Conservative government to workers across the country who counted on employment insurance, we made a commitment during the election campaign to reverse the changes to employment insurance made by the Conservative government.That is exactly what we did. We are making sure that Canadians who have lost their jobs get the help they need, and we continue to make investments to ensure that happens. Our work is ongoing.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister announced today that his pick for appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada is the Hon. Sheilah L. Martin.This nomination will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, after a remarkable legal career.Justice Martin had been sitting on the courts of appeal of Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. She previously sat on Alberta's Court of Queen's Bench and the Yukon Supreme Court.Would the Prime Minister please inform the House how this selection was made?

Mr. Speaker, the ills done to indigenous people over decades and centuries of colonialism in this country are shameful and are something that we need to learn from and move forward on. That includes respecting the rights of indigenous people now in all their different aspects. That is why we are working with survivors, working with communities to ensure that we can move forward in a way that is fully respectful of all their rights as we get to the bottom of this, understand their history, and make reparations in the right way moving forward.

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are jealous of our economic record. For 10 years, they showed the lowest growth numbers since R. B. Bennett in the Great Depression.We, in two years, by doing exactly what we committed to do in the election campaign, putting more money in the pockets of the middle class and those working hard to join it, have turned around the Canadian economy and shown that the Conservative policy of helping the rich and giving benefits to the most wealthy does not work.We are delivering lower taxes for the middle class, raising them on the wealthiest one per cent, and helping Canadian families.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia for his question and for his leadership of the Quebec caucus.Last week, we announced a $1-million federal investment as part of the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. This investment will open markets for our farmers, make the sector more innovative and sustainable, and strengthen the sector by better reflecting the diversity of our communities and supporting public trust.

Mr. Speaker, speaking of the most wealthy, we know that those with good financial advice, who were privileged to know what they should do with their money, declared their income in the 2015 tax year. They sold their shares before the year finished, and therefore were taxed at a lower rate than they wanted charged on other people.One of them might have been the finance minister, if he did in fact sell the $10 million worth of shares on November 30, 2015. Did he?

Mr. Speaker, it is clear to the members of this House and all Canadians that the minister has already answered this question, but the opposition members continue to sling mud because they have nothing else to do. They cannot criticize us, because in two years we have already achieved a much better economic record and helped far more Canadians than they managed to do in 10 years, despite their vaunted economic expertise. The Conservatives are showing that they overstated their expertise. We are the ones who are good at creating economic growth.

Mr. Speaker, Elections Canada is there to ensure that all political financing rules are followed at all times. I am proud of the political financing rules that apply here in the House of Commons and at the federal level. We will always make sure that all rules are being followed.

Mr. Speaker, from coast to coast to coast, housing advocates are raving about Canada's first-ever national housing strategy. Many are calling the national housing strategy a game-changer. Others are saying that the national housing strategy is a model of how modern progressive policy-making should be done. No less an authority than the UN special rapporteur on housing is calling the strategy “an incredible moment for Canada and our leadership on human rights.”Could the Prime Minister please inform the House what the first-ever national housing strategy means for all Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Yukon for his question and his excellent French.I am pleased to announce the nomination of the Hon. Sheilah L. Martin to the Supreme Court. With her wealth of experience and the many distinctions she has earned, she will be a valuable addition to the Supreme Court.Justice Martin is my second nomination under our new selection process, which promotes greater openness, transparency, and accountability. We are committed to appointing justices of the highest calibre, functionally bilingual, and representative of our diversity.Permit me also to once again thank Chief Justice McLachlin for her extraordinary service to Canada.

Mr. Speaker, Canada is a generous and compassionate country. We know that we must help those in need here at home and around the world.We are always looking for ways to do more for people. I know that the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship is currently taking a close look at this case. I know that everyone wants to ensure the best outcome in this situation, while maintaining the integrity of our robust immigration system.

Mr. Speaker, I am absolutely happy to answer the question. As has been reported in the press, I did sell shares when I came into office. What I can say, with absolute clarity, is that what we are doing here is we are focusing on something because those members do not want to focus on something else. What they do not want to focus on is how well things are going for Canadians. That is what we will continue to be focused on. We will pursue what we know is in the best interests of Canadians. That is working. That is what we are going to continue to do.

Mr. Speaker, we are happy to keep asking—

Mr. Speaker, we are happy to keep asking—

Mr. Speaker, I am absolutely happy to answer the question. As has been reported in the press, I did sell shares when I came into office. What I can say, with absolute clarity, is that what we are doing here is we are focusing on something because those members do not want to focus on something else. What they do not want to focus on is how well things are going for Canadians. That is what we will continue to be focused on. We will pursue what we know is in the best interests of Canadians. That is working. That is what we are going to continue to do.

Mr. Speaker, Canada is a generous and compassionate country. We know that we must help those in need here at home and around the world.We are always looking for ways to do more for people. I know that the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship is currently taking a close look at this case. I know that everyone wants to ensure the best outcome in this situation, while maintaining the integrity of our robust immigration system.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Yukon for his question and his excellent French.I am pleased to announce the nomination of the Hon. Sheilah L. Martin to the Supreme Court. With her wealth of experience and the many distinctions she has earned, she will be a valuable addition to the Supreme Court.Justice Martin is my second nomination under our new selection process, which promotes greater openness, transparency, and accountability. We are committed to appointing justices of the highest calibre, functionally bilingual, and representative of our diversity.Permit me also to once again thank Chief Justice McLachlin for her extraordinary service to Canada.

Mr. Speaker, from coast to coast to coast, housing advocates are raving about Canada's first-ever national housing strategy. Many are calling the national housing strategy a game-changer. Others are saying that the national housing strategy is a model of how modern progressive policy-making should be done. No less an authority than the UN special rapporteur on housing is calling the strategy “an incredible moment for Canada and our leadership on human rights.”Could the Prime Minister please inform the House what the first-ever national housing strategy means for all Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, Elections Canada is there to ensure that all political financing rules are followed at all times. I am proud of the political financing rules that apply here in the House of Commons and at the federal level. We will always make sure that all rules are being followed.

Mr. Speaker, speaking of the most wealthy, we know that those with good financial advice, who were privileged to know what they should do with their money, declared their income in the 2015 tax year. They sold their shares before the year finished, and therefore were taxed at a lower rate than they wanted charged on other people.One of them might have been the finance minister, if he did in fact sell the $10 million worth of shares on November 30, 2015. Did he?

Mr. Speaker, it is clear to the members of this House and all Canadians that the minister has already answered this question, but the opposition members continue to sling mud because they have nothing else to do. They cannot criticize us, because in two years we have already achieved a much better economic record and helped far more Canadians than they managed to do in 10 years, despite their vaunted economic expertise. The Conservatives are showing that they overstated their expertise. We are the ones who are good at creating economic growth.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia for his question and for his leadership of the Quebec caucus.Last week, we announced a $1-million federal investment as part of the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. This investment will open markets for our farmers, make the sector more innovative and sustainable, and strengthen the sector by better reflecting the diversity of our communities and supporting public trust.

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are jealous of our economic record. For 10 years, they showed the lowest growth numbers since R. B. Bennett in the Great Depression.We, in two years, by doing exactly what we committed to do in the election campaign, putting more money in the pockets of the middle class and those working hard to join it, have turned around the Canadian economy and shown that the Conservative policy of helping the rich and giving benefits to the most wealthy does not work.We are delivering lower taxes for the middle class, raising them on the wealthiest one per cent, and helping Canadian families.

Mr. Speaker, the ills done to indigenous people over decades and centuries of colonialism in this country are shameful and are something that we need to learn from and move forward on. That includes respecting the rights of indigenous people now in all their different aspects. That is why we are working with survivors, working with communities to ensure that we can move forward in a way that is fully respectful of all their rights as we get to the bottom of this, understand their history, and make reparations in the right way moving forward.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister announced today that his pick for appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada is the Hon. Sheilah L. Martin.This nomination will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, after a remarkable legal career.Justice Martin had been sitting on the courts of appeal of Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. She previously sat on Alberta's Court of Queen's Bench and the Yukon Supreme Court.Would the Prime Minister please inform the House how this selection was made?

Mr. Speaker, after all the harm caused by the former Conservative government to workers across the country who counted on employment insurance, we made a commitment during the election campaign to reverse the changes to employment insurance made by the Conservative government.That is exactly what we did. We are making sure that Canadians who have lost their jobs get the help they need, and we continue to make investments to ensure that happens. Our work is ongoing.

Mr. Speaker, the Social Security Tribunal of Canada is a real disaster. Some unemployed workers have had to wait more than a year for a hearing. That is unacceptable.During the election campaign, the Prime Minister promised to reform this process. Two years later, nothing has been done. Although the Liberals have a KPMG report on how make the tribunal more efficient, they have yet to release it.Are we to understand that the recommendations are not to their liking?

Mr. Speaker, what we have learned from talking to Canadians, whether it be in Lac-Saint-Jean, South Surrey—White Rock, or anywhere else in the country, is that they recognize that our economic growth record, the impact of the Canada child benefit, the tax cut for the middle class, and the tax hike for the wealthy are helping our communities, helping families, and helping individuals. That is what we are doing, and that is why the opposition members are conducting a smear campaign, because they cannot find anything else to criticize.

I thank the member for Scarborough Centre for her extraordinary community leadership. The national housing strategy is not just the first-ever national housing strategy in Canada, it is also the first time a federal government has committed itself to a human rights-based approach to housing. We are going to reduce chronic homelessness by 50%, build up to 400,000 new, repaired, or renovated units, and remove half a million households and individuals from housing need. We are all proud of delivering real and historic change to the Canadians who need it most.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians well know that wherever I travel around the world, I stand up for Canadian values and human rights and will continue to, including in China. The plight of Canadians, anywhere around the world, is of deep concern to our government. That is why we have had so much good news over the past two years in our capacity to bring Canadians home. We know that engaging with China to be able to set the rules and ensure opportunities for Canadian workers and Canadian businesses to succeed in a globalized world is just the right thing to do, and we will do it while standing up for Canadian values and human rights.

Mr. Speaker, again, we can see the dilemma in which the opposition finds itself.We have demonstrated that on what was supposed to be their strength, the economy, our plan actually works far better than any of theirs ever did. It leaves them with very little to be able to attack us on.The economy is doing well. The middle class is growing, and it is being supported. We are putting up the best growth numbers of anyone in the G7, thanks to our extraordinary finance minister.All the opposition has to do is sling mud, make baseless allegations, and hide behind parliamentary privilege.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect the government to be accountable. Canadians expect the Minister of Finance to give clear answers. Canadians certainly do not expect the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance to be under investigation by the Ethics Commissioner. Canadians certainly do expect the Minister of Finance to be able to tell us whether he was or was not the person who sold 680,000 shares one week before he introduced tax measures that led to a 5% drop in the share price of his family business. Was it him or not?

Mr. Speaker, once again the opposition has nothing better to do than sling mud. We are showing how to create economic growth after 10 years of sluggish economic growth under Stephen Harper, when we experienced the worst growth rate since before World War II. The work we are doing now will lead to real benefits for Canadians. The opposition had nothing better to do than make personal attacks and mount a smear campaign.

Mr. Speaker, we understand how much Canadians rely on local media to read the local news that brings them together as a community.We will continue to spend millions of advertising dollars to support local newspapers. We recognize that the industry is going through a transformation. We will continue to support the media, because a democratic society needs strong, free media.

Mr. Speaker, this is a newsflash for the Prime Minister. We have said all of these exact things outside the House as well as inside. The Prime Minister's own clear promise to Canadians was that he and his ministers must not be in a conflict of interest or even in “the appearance of a conflict of interest.” The Prime Minister said that he would be different. He said that he would answer questions. Let us test that promise. Has the Prime Minister asked his finance minister if he cleared the sale of $10 million of shares with the Ethics Commissioner before he introduced major changes to the tax code? By not holding his finance minister accountable, how would he expect any Canadian to believe anything he has to say?

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member opposite for his long advocacy for human rights, for LGBTQ2 rights, and for the rights of all Canadians over many years. It was an honour to stand with him in this House yesterday.As the member mentions, there is still much work to be done and we look forward to working with all members of this House to get it done as quickly as we can.

I will bite my tongue, Mr. Speaker. Everything about the Minister of Finance is shady and hypocritical, yet he is still trying to convince us that the opposite is true by refusing to answer our questions. Canada's finances must be managed by someone who is responsible, transparent, and honest because this is Canadians' money we are talking about.In light of the commissioner's investigations, the minister's personal gains and his refusal to respond to questions about his financial transactions, will the Prime Minister fire his finance minister, yes or no?

Mr. Speaker, I have full confidence in the Minister of Finance, and one only has to look at the half a million new jobs to understand why. However, it is interesting. We have created Prime Minister's question period on Wednesdays to give an opportunity to backbench MPs to ask questions of the Prime Minister directly. If the member opposite wants to see how much confidence I have in the Minister of Finance, he just needs to keep asking these questions.

Mr. Speaker, it is good to see the finance minister being allowed to answer a question. If he is so sure that he has done nothing wrong, will he answer one very specific question, and this question has been posed in the House as well as outside of the House. Was it he who sold 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell just days before the motion was tabled in the House to change the tax—

Mr. Speaker, yesterday was an important day for everyone in the the House, for all Canadians, and for future generations. Recognizing the harm we did as an institution and as a country to members of the LGBTQ2 community was essential. However, as the member said, there is still much work to do.We will keep moving forward with changes to our laws, practical changes that send a clear message to the LGBTQ2 community that the discrimination and harm they were subjected to will never happen again.

Mr. Speaker, the decline of print media is hitting our regions hard. Back home, in Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean, ad revenue at newspapers like Le Quotidien and Le Progrès week-end is dwindling.Since the Liberal government claims to care about information, it must take action and support print media, just like it supported other industries in which so many jobs were at stake.Will the government commit to providing temporary financial assistance to print media and help maintain good jobs, while the industry awaits a permanent solution?

What a complete mess, Mr. Speaker, and the Minister of Finance has only himself to blame. On November 30, 2015, someone sold 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell, just a week before the minister announced tax measures that would eventually lower the value of those shares.The minister himself confirmed having sold that many shares. He could have avoided this whole mess from the beginning by denying that it had anything to do with him, by denying that he sold the shares on November 30, but he refuses to do so.Why, then, has the Prime Minister not called on his Minister of Finance to give a clear answer?

Mr. Speaker, here are the facts: on November 30, 2015, an individual sold 680,000 Morneau Shepell shares. One week later, the Minister of Finance introduced a tax measure that resulted in a 5% loss in the value of Morneau Shepell. Earlier, the minister rose and spoke in English. I will now give him the opportunity to answer clearly in French.Did he sell his shares or not?

Mr. Speaker, again, we see the challenge that the Conservatives find themselves in. A great example is our commitment to lower taxes on small businesses. For months, they spent all their time trying to scare small businesses like pizza shop owners and plumbers that we were going to hurt them or raise their taxes while we consistently said that we were going to stand up for them and ensure that the measures we had only affected the most wealthy. Then, at the end of it all, they find themselves unable to actually criticize us because we are doing the right thing, as we said we would, and they have—

Mr. Speaker, again, there are no secrets here. If the member opposite has an allegation, if he wants to say something, he should say what he means. He should say it here and he should say it now. He should stand and say it, and then he should go out in the foyer and say it again.

Mr. Speaker, what is extraordinary is a finance minister who breaks the law and fails to report his offshore company.What is also extraordinary is implying that he put all of his money in a blind trust, but in fact keeping it, knowingly, invested in a company he regulates. It is also extraordinary that he introduced a bill that would help that company with changes to pension law. It is extraordinary that after three days of questioning, he still cannot tell us if he sold shares in that company just a week before he introduced tax legislation.With these extraordinary failures, will he resign?

Mr. Speaker, what we are seeing is the dilemma that the opposition members are grappling with. They cannot criticize us or even attack us on our economic record, which is extremely positive for Canadians, for the middle class. Instead they have decided to launch a smear campaign and hide behind parliamentary privilege by not repeating their allegations outside this chamber. I know that Canadians expect better from all members of the House, including the opposition members. Let us see if they start to live up to those expectations.

Mr. Speaker, fact: on December 7, the minister introduced tax changes that gave an incentive for investors to sell their stocks and realize their capital gains before the new year and before the new tax increase would take effect; fact: the stock market dropped and Morneau Shepell shares dropped by 5%; fact: the finance department has revealed that this phenomenon led to a reduction in revenues of almost $1 billion in the subsequent year. These are all facts. He sold his shares at some point. I am asking again. Did he sell them immediately before he introduced that measure, yes or no?

Mr. Speaker, one of the ways for Canadians to judge what members say is to see whether they are prepared to repeat their comments outside the House, where there is no parliamentary privilege.I would suggest that my friend opposite be very explicit in his comments, inside and outside the House. We will see if he really wants to support the allegations he is making.

Mr. Speaker, here is a concrete example of one of our government's successes on the agricultural front.In July, the Minister of Agriculture signed an agreement with his provincial and territorial counterparts on the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, Canada's next five-year agricultural policy framework.Can the Prime Minister tell the House about the kinds of investments and programs we can expect to see under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership?

Again we see, Mr. Speaker, that the opposition members are filled with sound and fury, signifying nothing. They refuse to actually follow up on the insinuations and allegations they made clearly in this House on Monday because they realized they went too far, because their desire to attack and to sling mud against the honour and integrity of people on this side of the House crossed some lines. That is why they are unable and unwilling to go out and repeat what they said on Monday outside of this House, which tells Canadians that this is nothing but bluster.

Mr. Speaker, we have reached a new low in this House. The opposition members—

Mr. Speaker, once again we are happy to take questions inside this chamber. However, at issue are the statements that the members opposite made on Monday that they are unwilling to repeat outside. That is the question. Will the member for Carleton walk outside and repeat the statements made on Monday outside, where he is not hiding behind parliamentary privilege?

Mr. Speaker, children at St. Anne's Residential School suffered nightmarish levels of abuse, torture, and child rape, yet the office of the Attorney General suppressed thousands of pages of police evidence that identified those perpetrators and in doing so, they had cases thrown out and undermined the hearings. Now that the justice department has been forced to turn over those documents, they claim it is inadmissible unless a survivor finds a witness to verify these atrocities.To the Prime Minister, enough. The survivors of St. Anne's deserve better. Will he instruct his government to end this obstruction of justice against the survivors of St. Anne's, once and for all?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister says they have one principle, actually they have two different principles, one for themselves and one for everyone else. For example, when the minister brought in his tax increase on small businesses, there was a higher rate for the pizza shop owner and the plumber, but no new taxes for his company Morneau Shepell. When he brought in his tax increase that would affect people on their capital gains, he made sure, or did he, to sell his shares before that tax increase came into effect while others would have to pay more.Why will he not follow the simple principle of accountability?

Mr. Speaker, I continue to have full confidence in the Minister of Finance. One only has to look at the half a million new jobs to understand why. The minister has lowered taxes for the middle class and increased taxes on the wealthiest 1%. He created the Canada child benefit, which helps nine out of ten families and which will lower child poverty by 40% across the country. He is giving more money to the most vulnerable seniors. He is lowering taxes for small business. He is managing the G7's best-performing economy. We continue to have confidence in—

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House we have a very simple principle of listening to Canadians. That is what we did for years while we were the third party in the House. That is what we continue to do to stay connected with Canadians. Unfortunately, for 10 years, Stephen Harper did not do a very good job of listening to Canadians and over the past two years, we see that the Conservatives are doing exactly the same thing. They did not listen to Canadians tell them that baseless attacks and personal mudslinging jobs have no attraction with Canadians who want real—

Mr. Speaker, there are no secrets here. As has been reported in the press, when I came into office, I sold some shares. As has been reported, when I came into office, I made a $5 million donation to charity. As we know, we campaigned to 36 million Canadians that we would raise taxes on the 1%, which we did. As everyone knows, except for perhaps the opposition, no one knows what the stock market will do in advance. Therefore, if the members opposite have something they want to say, they should say it here, say it now clearly, and in the foyer.

Mr. Speaker, in his apology to the LGBTQ2 community yesterday, the Prime Minister acknowledged that there is still much work to do. A bill to expunge criminal convictions for consensual sexual activity between same-sex partners has been introduced. However, the bill to make the age of consent the same for everyone has been languishing on the Order Paper for a long time now. Will the Prime Minister commit to working with us to pass both of these bills before the House rises for the holidays?

Again, Mr. Speaker, we have courts that are very able to determine facts in cases like this. However, the member opposite, by only saying these sorts of things in this chamber, protected by parliamentary privilege, as we all should be, is demonstrating that he does not want to test his allegations in the courts. He does not want to actually have to stand behind his words in a court of law. That is the baselessness of the facts.

Mr. Speaker, the 2016 political financing report reveals a coincidence in the Papineau riding that is troubling, to say the least. On July 6 and 7, 2016, while the Liberal government was approving a Chinese bank in Vancouver, the Prime Minister received nearly $70,000 for his riding from wealthy Chinese individuals from Vancouver. That was nearly two-thirds of his political financing in under 48 hours.Can he explain that to us?

Mr. Speaker, not only do I stand with the United Nations on this and many other issues, I actually, personally, brought up this issue when I was in Liberia, challenging local leaders and local governments to step up on the fight against FGM.We will continue to stand against violence against women. We will continue to lead the way, pushing for an end to these barbaric practices of female genital mutilation, everywhere around the world and here in Canada. This is something we take very seriously.

Mr. Speaker, inconveniently for the Prime Minister, that is simply not true. Not only is the finance minister failing to follow the rules, he is also not very good at his job. He promised to run a deficit of only $10 billion, and of course he has blown right past that. He promised that wealthy Canadians would pay more, but after his measures came in, the top 1% ended up paying less, all the while 80% of working Canadians are paying more. The finance minister is not competent and he cannot follow the rules. Why is he still in cabinet?

Mr. Speaker, not only did he not answer the question, he decided not to answer, period. He had nothing against the question, but he certainly has something against the answer.How can anyone believe what the finance minister says anymore? It seems that he is constantly annoyed just at the simple questions we are asking, which are necessary and vital for a healthy democracy. He can never give a straight answer. I have a tip for him. Avoiding questions and threatening legal consequences to silence critics does nothing to exonerate him. In fact, it is making things worse. I would suggest another strategy that all Canadians could appreciate: telling the truth.When will the Prime Minister ask the finance minister to tell the truth?

Mr. Speaker, once again, the members opposite are insinuating things that they do not want to come right out and say and that they certainly would not say outside the House. They are hiding behind parliamentary privilege. That is proof that this is nothing but a smear campaign against a finance minister who is managing the country so well that Canada has the strongest growth in the G7. We created 500,000 new jobs, and we are helping families across the country. We are going to continue in that direction.

Mr. Speaker, we are happy to keep asking questions. The reason the finance minister is in trouble is that he simply cannot answer the questions. He misled Canadians about putting his assets into a blind trust. He was fined for holding onto an offshore corporation and not disclosing it, and he introduced pension legislation that could benefit him and his family company. Now he is refusing to answer simple questions about personal, multi-million dollar transactions in Morneau Shepell.How is it that the Prime Minister is able to blindly trust someone who has demonstrated such ethical lapses?

Mr. Speaker, 200 million women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation. Today, the United Nations tweeted, as part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence that “FGM is a human rights violation. You must end cutting now for a better future for young girls”.Canada's citizenship guide informs newcomers that FGM is a crime in Canada. However, Canada's Prime Minister has decided to delete this information. Will the Prime Minister stand with the United Nations and FGM survivors and reverse his decision?

I have some facts for you, Mr. Speaker. Over the past two years, it has been proven that the Minister of Finance violated ethics laws. He forgot to put his assets in a blind trust. He forgot to declare his villa in France. He refuses to disclose his numbered companies. The cherry on top is this business with his block of 680,000 shares worth over $10 million that were sold just before a measure was introduced in the House. No one trusts this finance minister anymore.What is the Prime Minister waiting for to fire him?

Mr. Speaker, opposition members have a job to do. They have to oppose. The challenge they have right now, despite 10 years of terrible economic stories from Stephen Harper's Conservative government, is that we have been able to demonstrate record growth and record job creation. We have helped millions of Canadians by lowering taxes on the middle class and raising them on the wealthiest 1%. They voted against those measures. However, they now have nothing to do except make wild accusations and sling mud. That is simply what they do.

Mr. Speaker, after yesterday's historic apology to the LGBTQ community and with the answer we just had from the Prime Minister, we see an opportunity here to begin to address some of the unfinished business the Prime Minister has been talking about. In order to do that, will the Prime Minister join us in seeking agreement from all members of this House to deal with Bill C-66 before Christmas, so that gay men with criminal records for same-sex consensual activity can have those records extinguished?

Mr. Speaker, the minister still will not answer that specific question. On November 30, 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell were sold. Was it the finance minister who sold those shares?

Mr. Speaker, in Canada, financial executives have to disclose any transactions they make on the stock market. These measures were put in place to prevent insider trading.The Minister of Finance is Canada's chief financial officer. He is the one who makes the rules. Consequently, he must be above reproach and lead by example.If the Minister of Finance does not want to be transparent with Canadians, how can the Prime Minister still trust him?

Mr. Speaker, I think the Prime Minister and the finance minister are jumping the gun. The accusations have not been made, because we are just trying to get an answer to the question. Was it the finance minister who sold 680,000 shares days before the motion was tabled in the House? It is up to him to answer the question. If he did it, will he defend it? If he did not do it, why can he just not say it?

Mr. Speaker, all the facts that have been said inside the House by opposition MPs have been repeated outside the House. Those are yesterday's talking points that the Prime Minister is going on. However, when we look at the facts, the Liberal campaign platform would lead Canadians to believe that the fiscal changes would take place and come into effect on April 1, 2016. Only when the finance minister decided they would come into effect in December 2015, and only when the public knew about that, would markets move. Days before that decision was announced to Canadians, 680,000 shares were sold. Was it the finance minister who made the sale?

Answer the question.

Mr. Speaker, the members of the opposition cannot even keep their story straight in their attacks. For weeks, they demanded that the finance minister sell his shares. Now, they are saying that he should not have sold his shares. They are all over the place in their attacks, because that is just what they do. Meanwhile, we remain focused on Canadians, on lowering taxes for the middle class, on lowering taxes for small businesses, on creating investments in infrastructure that will help Canadians from coast to coast to coast, on delivering on the promises we made in the election campaign on which Canadians are counting.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and the finance minister cannot answer simple questions. We have asked them if the finance minister meet with the Ethics Commissioner before tabling Bill C-27. They cannot answer that. We have asked whether it was the finance minister himself who sold the shares just days before tax measures became public here in the House of Commons. They cannot answer that. They cannot hide behind sweeping dismissals based on personal accusations. It is up to them to answer these questions.We have an obligation to defend the interests of taxpayers. Canadians need to know there is not one set of rules for Liberals and another set of rules for everybody else. Will the finance minister finally do the right thing and resign?

Mr. Speaker, I think the Prime Minister has rehearsed yesterday's talking points. In fact, our finance shadow minister did go outside the House and repeated everything that was said inside the House. It may be a standard practice on Bay Street to threaten legal action any time legitimate questions are raised, but that is not befitting of a finance minister. If he believes he did nothing wrong, could the finance minister simply confirm or deny whether it was he who sold 680,000 shares days before the motion to change taxes was tabled in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I can understand that it be the Leader of the Opposition who chooses to get up again. The member for Carleton refused to repeat the allegations he made on Monday outside the House yesterday. He is hiding behind parliamentary privilege. I do not blame the Leader of the Opposition for taking his place right now.

Mr. Speaker, not only is the Minister of Finance not following the rules, but he also has a very poor track record. Despite what he and the Prime Minister claim, the deficit is double the $10 billion that he promised; the wealthiest Canadians pay less tax, not more; and middle-class families are paying 80% more tax, not less. This minister cannot count and cannot follow the rules.Why, then, is he still the Minister of Finance?

Mr. Speaker, enough is enough. The Minister of Finance is in trouble up to his eyeballs. He misled the House and benefited from a bill he introduced. He put himself in a conflict of interest and he is under investigation.Somehow, thousands of shares in Morneau Shepell were sold a few days before a major tax announcement. When people say they no longer believe politicians and that they think we are all crooks, that is why. The Liberals were elected to restore public confidence.How can the Prime minister have confidence in his Minister of Finance?

You see, Mr. Speaker, once again the member opposite seems a little bit muddled. This is the room for questions. For him to go outside is to make a statement—

Mr. Speaker, not only is the Minister of Finance unable to answer questions and follow the rules, but he cannot count.He said the deficit would be $10 billion; it was $20 billion. He said taxes would go up on the richest; in fact, the rich are paying $1 billion less. He said taxes would go down for the middle class, but 87% of them are paying more.When will the Prime Minister do the right thing and fire this incompetent minister who cannot follow the rules?

Mr. Speaker, you see, once again the lawyers have got into their questions.On Monday, the member for Carleton made a very clear accusation in this House. He then swept out of the House yesterday and did not repeat that allegation outside of the House. He is hiding behind parliamentary privilege, which is why Canadians can know that this is nothing but unfounded, personal, baseless attacks and not a substantive criticism of the government.

Mr. Speaker, we take seriously the responsibility of protecting our natural environment. We know that protecting the environment and growing the economy go together. We will continue to work with our partners, including conservation groups and provinces and territories, to ensure that we are fulfilling all our obligations in terms of protection, protecting species at risk, in terms of keeping our environment protected for future generations.

Mr. Speaker, John Chang and Allison Lu are Canadian citizens who have been unfairly detained in China since March 2016 over a customs dispute. According to their daughter Amy, who is in Ottawa today, it has been over six months since she has had discussions with multiple ministers in the government who said they would look into it and move on this, and yet she has heard nothing. We need to bring John and Allison home. As the Prime Minister heads to China next week, will he promise to raise this issue and refuse to discuss any new trade agreement with China until John and Allison are released?

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Environment is facing court action for failing to comply with laws protecting Canada's boreal woodland caribou. She has just this week received a petition seeking an order to protect the critical habitat of five severely threatened caribou herds in northeastern Alberta. Successive governments have failed in their mandatory duties to ensure the protection. The province admits it lacks the necessary powers.Will the environment minister immediately recommend to the government to issue a section 61 order to save these herds?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I invited the finance minister to meet me out in the foyer, where I could repeat the same question out there that I asked in here. Unfortunately, he was a no-show. I will give him another chance. Where and when would he like to meet outside of this chamber so I can ask the same question and maybe he could answer it?

Mr. Speaker, I am simply asking the question. That side is demanding that we make allegations against the finance minister. It is a very strange way for question period to unfold.The reality is that, if a chief financial officer sold stocks a week before disappointing quarterly financial results were released, losing his job would be the least of his problems. He would be fired. Will the CEO of the Government of Canada fire his CFO now?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I repeated outside of the House the same questions that I have been asking inside of the House. Unfortunately, the minister will not answer those questions in either of those two places. Somebody sold $10 million of shares a week before the minister introduced tax changes that caused the stock market and Morneau Shepell shares to drop. Was that somebody him?

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister is answering questions and I am answering questions. We continue to remain focused on the things that matter to Canadians. That is why we created over half a million jobs over the past two years, why we have the strongest growth rate in the G7, why we delivered a tax cut for the middle class and raised taxes on the wealthiest 1%, and why we delivered a Canada child benefit that helps nine out of 10 families. Unfortunately, on that child benefit, members opposite, NDP and Conservative, voted against it.

Mr. Speaker, once again, the NDP and the Conservatives are pretending there was some sort of secret here, that we were going to lower taxes for the middle class and raise them on the wealthiest 1%. We campaigned on that promise. They lost because of that promise. I know they remember it. The fabrications and the personal attacks, the slinging of mud in this place, and hiding behind parliamentary privilege is not what Canadians expect from this place.

Now, Mr. Speaker, we see a bit of damage control where the opposition is trying to hide behind lawyers and hide behind parliamentary privilege. On Monday, the opposition made allegations that its members have refused to repeat outside the chamber. The member for Carleton swept out of this chamber, and then refused to repeat what he had said on Monday outside the chamber. Now they are backtracking, because their lawyers have told them to. These are the kinds of attacks and campaign of throwing dirt which they have been doing.

Mr. Speaker, on Christmas Eve 2016, Nicolas Faubert of Mont-Saint-Hilaire died in a tragic accident. He was sponsoring his spouse, Sophie Thewys, and her son for permanent residence.The application was approved, but because of his tragic death, Sophie was sent back to square one. This appalling lack of compassion is preventing a single mother from grieving properly.I have written authorization, so the government cannot hide behind privacy excuses.Will the government right this injustice and give Sophie permanent resident status?

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry that what the opposition member has in front of him is not relevant, but the finance minister just answered that question.