Discussion · Private Members' Business
Adam Chambers Conservative
“I want the House to pass this bill tonight. It makes the tax agency report on unpaid taxes and publish convictions for tax evasion. Recent news showed the agency mistakenly gave one person a 40 million dollar refund on a fake claim. Canadians deserve this transparency.”
“Mr. Speaker, it was a pleasure indeed to hear the wonderful words of my colleagues from multiple parties in this chamber about the need for greater transparency at the CRA and, if I heard correctly, general support of the principles of Bill S-217. I have to commend my hon. colleague from Calgary Crowfoot for his following of this issue, from sponsoring a bill similar to this in a previous Parliament to his work on the finance committee, which helped expose some of the challenges that this bill would help to address. As he has said, this is indeed the third time that this chamber has been given the opportunity to pass this bill into law, and I think the third time is the charm. I also have to commend the principal proposer of this bill, Senator Downe, who is a tireless advocate for greater transparency, greater efficiency and a better-functioning CRA. Many Canadians were dismayed and, frankly, shocked this weekend by what was reported by the CBC. Harvey Cashore has been doing a lot of work with his colleagues at the CBC, including Daniel Leblanc, on exposing some of the challenges of the large-scale frauds that are perpetrated on the public but that somehow escape even the most simple screening at the CRA. In one case, an individual was paid $40 million in tax refunds. This individual was a regular T4-ed employee living in northern Ontario. For fun, he submitted a fake tax return, and he got a $40-million refund as a result. Even he could not believe he was going to get that refund. Bills like Bill S-217 would require greater transparency at the CRA, as has been discussed, to identify the tax gap and then, when there are bad actors or tax evasion, require that that information be made public to all Canadians. The least that Canadians should expect is greater transparency. I want to thank Senator Percy Downe for his tireless advocacy and congratulate him on passing this bill for a third time. I hope we will be able to have a phone call tomorrow morning with the senator to tell him that this House duly passed this legislation this evening. Of course, we should also thank the drafters and the parliamentary support personnel in the legal team here who support private members, both in the House and in the Senate, to bring forward common-sense pieces of legislation.”
Mr. Speaker, it was a pleasure indeed to hear the wonderful words of my colleagues from multiple parties in this chamber about the need for greater transparency at the CRA and, if I heard correctly, general support of the principles of Bill S-217. I have to commend my hon. colleague from Calgary Crowfoot for his following of this issue, from sponsoring a bill similar to this in a previous Parliament to his work on the finance committee, which helped expose some of the challenges that this bill would help to address. As he has said, this is indeed the third time that this chamber has been given the opportunity to pass this bill into law, and I think the third time is the charm. I also have to commend the principal proposer of this bill, Senator Downe, who is a tireless advocate for greater transparency, greater efficiency and a better-functioning CRA. Many Canadians were dismayed and, frankly, shocked this weekend by what was reported by the CBC. Harvey Cashore has been doing a lot of work with his colleagues at the CBC, including Daniel Leblanc, on exposing some of the challenges of the large-scale frauds that are perpetrated on the public but that somehow escape even the most simple screening at the CRA. In one case, an individual was paid $40 million in tax refunds. This individual was a regular T4-ed employee living in northern Ontario. For fun, he submitted a fake tax return, and he got a $40-million refund as a result. Even he could not believe he was going to get that refund. Bills like Bill S-217 would require greater transparency at the CRA, as has been discussed, to identify the tax gap and then, when there are bad actors or tax evasion, require that that information be made public to all Canadians. The least that Canadians should expect is greater transparency. I want to thank Senator Percy Downe for his tireless advocacy and congratulate him on passing this bill for a third time. I hope we will be able to have a phone call tomorrow morning with the senator to tell him that this House duly passed this legislation this evening. Of course, we should also thank the drafters and the parliamentary support personnel in the legal team here who support private members, both in the House and in the Senate, to bring forward common-sense pieces of legislation.