Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I thank my friend kindly. I serve with him on the finance committee, and he does an excellent job on that committee. We have a great working relationship. He raises a very interesting point. The myriad of separate funds, boards of directors and organizations that give money out invite conflicts of interest and corruption. We should reconsider having all of these organizations and in…
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Mr. Speaker, the government loves to tout its economic record, but the results are simply underwhelming. Canada has the worst housing inflation among its peers and the worst performance in per capita income among the G7. The gross fixed capital formation has not increased in a decade, and R and D spending as a per cent of GDP is at its lowest point in 20 years. It is no wonder young Canadians and …
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Mr. Speaker, I am not surprised that the minister is not persuaded by my comments, but perhaps she might listen to economist Trevor Tombe, who wrote, “If Canada had simply kept pace with the U.S. over the past two years, our economy would be 8.5 percent larger.” That is $6,200 per person richer we would be. Trevor Tombe says that this is an incentive for Canadians and businesses to move south of t…
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With regard to vessel registrations, broken down by year since January 1, 2016: (a) how many pleasure crafts, broken down by new and used, were registered in Canada that had a total sales price (i) below $250,000, (ii) between $250,000 and $500,000, (iii) above $500,000 up to $1 million, (iv) above $1 million?
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With regard to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), broken down by department, agency, Crown corporation, or other government entity: (a) which departments, agencies, Crown corporations, or other government entities conducted a review or requested a review by another Government of Canada entity to ensure no possible fraudulent claims for the CERB; (b) if such a review was conducted, how m…
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With regard to the Underused Housing Tax (UHT) that came into effect on January 1, 2022, broken down by year: (a) how many UHT returns have been (i) filed by taxpayers, (ii) filed and then reviewed by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA); (b) how many UHT returns reviewed by the CRA in (a)(ii) had no amounts owing, in total and percentage; (c) what is the total amount of the UHT assessed; (d) what is t…
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With regard to the recovery of overpayments and fraudulently obtained payments of the various COVID-19 related financial relief programs put in place by the government, broken down by the various COVID-19 related financial relief programs: (a) what are the Canada Revenue Agency's (CRA) (i) total expenditures to date, (ii) expected expenditures in the future, on recovering the payments; (b) how man…
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Mr. Speaker, I have one petition to table today. It is on behalf of residents who are upset with Parks Canada's decision to abandon the replacement of the Boundary Road swing bridge, which had been in place since 1902. The Boundary Road swing bridge provides an essential route of transportation that residents of Bolsover use on a regular basis. It is also more efficient for first responders and is…
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moved for leave to introduce Bill S-258, An Act to amend the Canada Revenue Agency Act (reporting on unpaid income tax). Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the chamber to introduce a bill from the Senate, from Senator Downe. This bill would do three things. First, it would amend the Canada Revenue Agency Act to require that the Canada Revenue Agency list all those individuals who have been c…
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Madam Speaker, we request a recorded vote, but you can apply this result to the next 14 that you are about to read.
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Madam Speaker, we would like a recorded division.
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Madam Speaker, we need another recorded vote.
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Mr. Speaker, farmers, fishers, families and physicians will all be impacted by this tax. The government either did not know this was the case or did not care. Had the government actually taken the time to ask StatsCan, it might have found out that almost 50% of the people impacted by this tax, otherwise, make less than $100,000 a year. Why does the government continue to insist on purposely mislea…
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Mr. Speaker, the legend of the butter tart can be traced back to Quebec in the late 1600s, but the first documented recipe came in Simcoe County, in Barrie, in 1900. The butter tart is truly a national treasure, and this Saturday in Midland, we will celebrate these little sugar pies as tens of thousands of enthusiasts will descend upon downtown in search of the perfect tart. They come in every sha…
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Madam Speaker, I want to commend my fellow colleague for giving a speech in which he appropriately holds the government to account. He did not mention the official opposition once, but he appropriately placed relevant criticism at the feet of the government for its delay in bringing the bill forward. As such, I do not have much of a question, but I have more or less a comment to thank the hon. mem…
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Mr. Speaker, on April 16, the Liberals announced that they were increasing taxes on the investments of Canadians through an increase to the capital gains tax. That tax is supposed to take effect three weeks from today and Canadians have not seen the legislation yet. One wonders what the government is doing over there. When will the government show small businesses, families, farmers, entrepreneurs…
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Mr. Speaker, I understand my colleague is also a student of parliamentary procedure. My other colleague, the member for Calgary Nose Hill, outlined a very good argument on why she believes this bill may end up back in litigation at the Supreme Court to test its constitutionality. I wonder if the member would like to opine on that member's speech or, as has been the case for much of tonight, the fa…
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With regard to phone lines paid for by the government, broken down by cellular line versus traditional landline, for each part of the question: (a) how many phone lines was the government paying for as of April 1, 2024; (b) how many of the phone lines are dormant; (c) how many of the phone lines are active but have not been used or have not had any activity in the last year; (d) how many of the ph…
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Mr. Speaker, I regret to interrupt this debate, but I believe I have a matter that is pressing and important, which I need to bring to your attention at the earliest opportunity. It relates to an answer I received through an inquiry of ministry, Question No. 2221, in which I partially ask for information from the Canada Revenue Agency. The question I asked reads: With regard to the Canada Revenue …
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise in this chamber. Before I start my remarks on the bill, I seek the Speaker's indulgence for just a moment. I was notified earlier today that a dear friend and former colleague of mine, Matthew Vaccari, had passed away. He succumbed to cancer. He leaves behind two children and his wife, Heather. Matt and I worked very closely together at Canada Life. I…
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member likes to talk about wasting money, but the NDP members are supporting the government for incredible amounts of corporate welfare. The NDP has chosen to support this bill with tons of corporate welfare in it and has chosen to support a budget that has tons of corporate welfare in it, but it has only a pittance for those with disabilities. They are turning their backs on…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not know what happens in the Liberal caucus, but we have a lot of individual members here who have individual aspirations, individual reasons for how they vote and individual reasons for why they feel compelled to speak. The reason I am speaking tonight is that the energy bills of the people of Nova Scotia are going to go up as soon as this bill passes. I think it is irresponsibl…
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Madam Speaker, you are tough but fair, and I appreciate you, wholeheartedly, for your very wonderful ruling. I will continue.
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Mr. Speaker, I very much enjoyed working with my friend at the finance committee. I think he asked a very relevant question. The short answer is that, yes, it definitely shows the incompetence of the government because, every few months, the Liberals see a shiny new bauble and decide they are going to change the Competition Act. One would think that the Liberals have had enough time, after being i…
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Madam Speaker, I am very proud to be from Simcoe North. As I was mentioning, at a time when Canadians are facing an affordability crisis, the government's stated policy objective is to make energy more expensive. We are the only country on the planet that has increased the cost of energy through direct carbon tax increases and now also through an indirect increase by imposing additional taxes on p…
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With regard to correspondence, written or electronic, received by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) from 2016 to 2024, broken down by year: (a) what was the total amount of correspondence received by the CRA; (b) what was the average length in days for a complete response, excluding the acknowledgement of receipt reply; (c) how many and what percentages of final responses took (i) over six months, (…
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With regard to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and the objection process, broken down by fiscal year from 2015-16 to 2023-24: (a) what was, or is, the total budget for all CRA objection-related operations; (b) what was, or is, the total employee count for all CRA objection-related operations; (c) how many taxpayers filed objections; (d) what was the total of outstanding federal tax dollars in disp…
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With regard to taxation, for the last tax year for which statistics are available: for each federal tax, (i) what is the name of the tax, (ii) how much did it cost to administer, (iii) how many employees or full-time equivalents were assigned to administer the tax, (iv) how much revenue was received from the tax?
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Madam Speaker, I think we should have a recorded division.
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Madam Speaker, I was surprised to see this in the budget as well, but I must admit that I am not an expert in how those kinds of mortgages work. All Canadians would like to believe that Canadians should have access to financial products. I am interested to see how the government is going to consult on this. I do not know what is being proposed. I think we should learn a bit more. I would tell my w…
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Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe the government is applauding the disability program. It over-promised and under-delivered. If we want to talk about line items in the budget, let us talk about debt servicing costs. Debt servicing costs are now the exact same amount that the GST is to require. I have a bunch of friends I like to see on Fridays at Frank's compound, Waxy and Frank. Those guys go for lun…
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Madam Speaker, a year and a half ago, the government tabled a fall economic statement that showed a balanced budget in five years. Now the deficit is $20 billion. Since everyone started telling the government to slow down its spending, it has added $103 billion of new spending. That is net. The gross number is $156 billion. What I would like to have seen in this budget is some kind of plan.
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise in this space on behalf of the people of Simcoe North. To those watching at home, “Hello, Alice.” Before I start my comments today on the budget, I just want to take a moment, with the Chair's indulgence, to pay tribute to a former staff member in my office who passed away a couple of weeks ago. Diane Bell had been a staff member of mine since I was ele…
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Mr. Speaker, today marks the 10th anniversary of the passing of the late Jim Flaherty, former finance minister of Canada. At the time, the news of his passing was a shock to many colleagues in this place. Sometimes the stark recognition of our own mortality puts our minor differences in perspective. His career was dedicated to public service. In fact, his favourite speech was entitled “Public serv…
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Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise today to give voice to a number of local advocates who would like to see greater recognition for the 5,000-year-old Mnjikaning fish weirs, which are older than the Egyptian pyramids and one of the oldest, best-preserved wooden fish weirs in North America. The world knows too little about these fish weirs. The City of Orillia, Chippewas of Rama First …
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Mr. Speaker, I am new in this place, but my colleague mentioned that the NDP member consented to the amendment, as if that had any kind of relevancy. It is the same member who on multiple occasions has said that a private member's accepting an amendment that has been ruled out of order is irrelevant in that circumstance. He will have to tell me how it makes sense in that case and not in this one.
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With regard to the Underused Housing Tax (UHT) that came into effect on January 1, 2022, broken down by year: (a) how many UHT returns have been filed (i) in total, (ii) broken down by census metropolitan area (CMA); (b) how many UHT returns had no amounts owing (i) in total, (ii) broken down by CMA; (c) what is the total amount of the UHT assessed; (d) what is the amount of the UHT assessed that …
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With regard to the Select Luxury Items Tax (luxury tax) that came into effect on September 1, 2022: (a) what is the amount of luxury tax assessed by asset class (i.e. aircraft, vehicles, vessels); (b) what is the amount of luxury tax assessed that has been collected by asset class and separated by relative size of the payments received, including how many transactions involved a luxury tax between…
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With regard to the Canada Revenue Agency and the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), broken down by year for each of the last five years: (a) what was the total number of overpayments that were (i) assessed, (ii) collected from taxpayers who received overpayments following or due to death of a child; and (b) what is the amount of money represented by the overpayments in (a)(i) and (a)(ii)?
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Mr. Speaker, not every person who jumps off the Golden Gate Bridge actually dies, and in fact a study tracked down 29 individuals who survived. Some 98% of jumpers, by the way, do not survive the jump. A study of 29 individuals who survived their jump off the Golden Gate Bridge revealed that every single one of them regretted their decision to jump the moment they jumped. I was just wondering if m…
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Madam Speaker, a couple of years ago the immigration department released a study in which it questioned whether Canada had a diversified immigrant pool or not. Also, it has recently been suggested that if one was trying to undermine the great Canadian consensus on immigration, the policies the government has implemented would be indistinguishable from those meant to destroy the consensus on immigr…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague spoke very well in French. I hope that, at some point, I will be able to deliver a speech as the member did, in our nation's second language. I want to ask the member about the temporary foreign worker program. There was an op-ed written in 2014, entitled “How to fix the broken temporary worker program”. It stated: It cuts to the heart of who we are as a country. I beli…
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Madam Speaker, I am not sure if I just heard the member opposite refer to immigrants as a gold mine. One of the other members also referred to immigrants from “puppy mills”. The member opposite made a reference earlier to people dying. Under this government, multiple students a month have been sent home in body bags because they are being invited here without a reasonable prospect of success. By t…
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Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise today to give a voice to a significant number of constituents in Simcoe North who care about the issue of electoral reform. The petitioners believe that the need for electoral reform continues to be a priority and that we need a non-partisan approach to this, including a citizens' assembly. They are therefore calling on the House to give a voice to…
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With regard to government statistics on violent offences involving firearms, since 2015 and broken down by year, including 2023 to date: (a) what was the number of violent offences involving firearms, in total, and broken down by type of offence; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by province or territory and by municipality; and (c) what is the breakdown of (a) and (b) by the number and percentage …
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With regard to the Canada Revenue Agency and net worth assessments of individuals, broken down by year since 2015: (a) how many net worth assessments have been done; (b) of the net worth assessments in (a), how much additional taxes have been (i) assessed, (ii) recovered; (c) of the net worth assessments conducted, how many were based on leads from the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis C…
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With regard to the Bank of Canada's (BOC) digital Canadian dollar consultation: (a) what are the details of all memorandums or briefing notes that have been sent from or received by the BOC in relation to the topic, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) type of document, (iii) sender, (iv) recipient, (v) title, (vi) file number; (b) what are the details of all studies the BOC has done since 2016…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her many years of service. It gives me great pleasure to comment on her very long career. As the member and I share a great love of Georgian Bay, I expect to see her spending more time there, perhaps finishing her book on democracy, which we will all take great lessons from. When I was first elected, I was provided advice by many people, and someone said …
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With regard to the government’s approach to information technology (IT): (a) what were the total expenditures on (i) research or IT database subscription services, (ii) benchmarking, (iii) value-assurance services for IT, in total, and broken down by department or agency and by each client department of Shared Services Canada; (b) which companies or stakeholders were consulted when Public Services…
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With regard to the government’s policies governing information technology (IT) projects, delivery, and contracting: (a) what policies and procedures are in place to ensure independent assessment and oversight, as well as ensuring value-for-money, on IT projects over $2.5 million; (b) what contract vehicles are in place for departments and agencies to secure the resources needed to perform the proc…
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