Dominique O'Rourke · TranslatePolitics.ca

Government Orders

An Act to Authorize Certain Payments to be Made out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund

2026-06-16

“I want to cheer for a multicultural festival in my riding. Then I want to pressure you to rush through a new homebuying subsidy. Let's hand out money quick, so people can buy new homes right away and we can keep building lots more. We need to hurry! Never mind what it costs taxpayers.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, first, I just want to celebrate the Guelph & District Multicultural Festival, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this weekend. I congratulate Anu Saxena, their chair, and also Cinthuja Leon, who is their executive director. It was another amazing weekend. When I am out at these community events, people really want to know how soon we can see the waiver of the HST on new homes in Ontario. My hon. colleague was a municipal councillor, as I was. What is the urgency in passing the legislation and getting the money flowing? How important is that money, in terms of ensuring that people can buy their home now, a new home that would be built in the future, in terms of smoothing out the construction, so that, in fact, we are seeding builds for the next several years?

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Government Orders

Government Business No. 11—Proceedings on Bill C‑26

2026-06-16

“My friend ignored your question. I want you to answer it. I want to cheer for moving quickly. I think this is an emergency. I want the government to look good.”

Government Orders

Strong and Free Elections Act

2026-06-11

“Canada is good but could be better. We should look at political donations, especially crypto. Maybe the minister has thoughts.”

Statements by Members

James Ross Hurley

2026-06-11

“Wow that sounds like a great program. I'm glad it has support and won't go away. I want people to remember James Hurley and think well of the program he made and worked for.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, let us honour the life and legacy of James Ross Hurley, the founding director of the parliamentary internship programme. Created in 1969 by Wellington MP Alf Hales, the program flourished under James Hurley's leadership as a unique, non-partisan opportunity for university graduates to experience parliamentary democracy. Since then, more than 550 young Canadians have participated in the program, including members of this Parliament, members of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery, and alumni who have gone on to hold top positions in the public and private sectors and in non-profit organizations in Canada and around the world. James Hurley devoted his life to public service as a Privy Council Office constitutional adviser to six prime ministers, a beloved mentor and a professor of political science at the University of Ottawa. In March 2025, he left us. In a final act of generosity to the Hales and Hurley Parliamentary Foundation, he ensured that the program would continue in perpetuity. His family, including his sister Ann Gibson, is with us today. James Hurley's legacy will continue to be an inspiration. His legacy to youth, democracy, bilingualism and Canada will inspire generations to come.

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Government Orders

Protecting Victims Act

2026-06-09

“Someone in another party said something mean. I want you to apologize and look bad.”

“I want to praise the person who criticized our bill. I want to hurry up and pass our bill. I want to know what she wants next.”

Government Orders

Build Canada Homes Act

2026-06-09

“Working with us means streamlining and more money everywhere. The rules are too slow. But if other levels of government want things then this new structure can put up the money or find it. That can all go faster.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, every province is going to have a different municipal act. Every province is going to have different regulations. Every municipality may as well. That collaboration is important, and so is streamlining some of those rules so that we can move faster. The provinces clearly need to collaborate. It is often their responsibility to ultimately provide the supports that go into supportive housing. All of this is intended to accelerate where there is provincial will, territorial will and first nations interest so that we can work together to find solutions for a project that are suitable for its context. That is the difference with Build Canada Homes. It can bring in land. It can help with financing and it may know of other investors. This new structure creates that flexibility.

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“I'm sad people were confused. Email someone. The important thing is we care and spend a lot of money.”

“You asked a good question. Many departments would be involved. We would work with provinces and territories. It's not up to us to decide how many homes to build.”

“I want Canadians to know our government is doing something about housing. We're setting up a new agency called Build Canada Homes. It will have a lot of power and flexibility to get housing built. We promise it will be accountable. It will work with all levels of government, indigenous communities, non-profits, and developers. This approach will make it faster and easier to build affordable housing. We've already announced projects in Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nunavut, and Nova Scotia. It's a lot of homes! The opposition just wants to argue about the details. But we're taking action and getting housing built. That's what matters.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, housing is a fundamental need, and growing demand for housing across the country requires urgent action. While the opposition wants to fiddle about with the structure they do not like, we are moving to action. Build Canada Homes would be created to act quickly and efficiently in a more flexible way than ever before. The legislation would give that Crown corporation the flexibility and operational autonomy to deliver on its mandate. As a Crown corporation, it would maintain a clear accountability framework to the government. It would report on those numbers. This would strengthen its ability to build partnerships across the housing system and deliver affordable housing at the scale and speed Canadians require. Rather than silos, there would be broad collaboration. Build Canada Homes would streamline federal housing efforts by acting as a developer, financier, convenor and catalyst for innovation in the housing sector. It would have a central position in forging strong partnerships across all levels of government and with indigenous communities. It would work with non-profits and other key stakeholders in the housing industry, including developers and community organizations, to drive the development of truly affordable housing across Canada. Build Canada Homes cannot act alone. The success of its achievement lies in its partnerships. Stronger collaboration among all levels of government and with key partners is needed to address the housing challenges we face across this country. Build Canada Homes would make it simpler and faster to get large-scale affordable housing projects off the ground. The agency would attract public, private and philanthropic investment, maximizing its impact. Build Canada Homes would make it easier to develop partnerships across the housing ecosystem to bring together the right financing, the right land and the right projects. As a Crown corporation, it would combine access to federal lands, development expertise and flexible financial tools under one roof. This is new. It would accelerate the delivery of affordable housing, working with non-profits, indigenous organizations and all orders of government. This approach reduces risk, eliminates barriers and guides projects through the development process. Sometimes those non-profits are not large, especially in smaller communities. Build Canada Homes could help guide them through this process. We want to get housing financed and built. We will work directly with builders and housing providers that are focused on long-term affordability. This includes, as I said, non-profits, co-ops, community housing providers and organizations that promote a variety of housing options for Canadians. Those strategic partnerships will create homes that are affordable to a range of households across the income spectrum. Build Canada Homes would be empowered to achieve this collaboration through agreements, financial support, joint ventures and shared development initiatives. It would look for strong collaboration and coordination with the provinces and territories to help advance these priority projects, because working together, we can achieve more. This could include providing land, accelerating the approval process and waiving applicable fees. We know indigenous people face unique housing challenges. Build Canada Homes would collaborate on proposals that deliver shared housing outcomes with first nations, Inuit and Métis governments, indigenous housing providers and urban indigenous organizations. Build Canada Homes would meet the housing needs of indigenous communities in a spirit of collaboration. The Government of Canada respects indigenous sovereignty and supports self-determined housing solutions that are designed and delivered with an indigenous-led perspective. Our indigenous partners know how to incorporate culture and adopt housing solutions in ways that enable their communities to thrive. Paired with the infrastructure investments this government has announced and has begun, this could be a game-changer. Since its launch, Build Canada Homes has moved quickly to get housing projects off the ground. The Government of Canada has identified public lands that can be converted into housing. We have partnered with local governments to cut red tape and fast-track approvals. In April, the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec announced an initial partnership to create nearly 865 new affordable housing units in the province. The total investment in affordable housing, supportive housing and transitional housing in the province amounts to $200 million. This investment is being shared between Build Canada Homes and the Quebec government. In Ontario, Arbo at Downsview will be home to 540 new homes and a future 1,700 new homes. In Ottawa, 1,100 homes have been announced. Eventually, there will be 3,000 homes. The thing is that we do not build this stuff overnight. We have to assemble the land. We need the investors. We have to align the trades. We have to prep the site. We need the site to be serviced. What might start with a small number can actually grow over time, and I think we are missing that point. By working together, the federal and provincial governments could accelerate the approvals process and identify additional housing projects. Those combined investments would help build more affordable housing in the communities that need them the most. It is local knowledge and local projects with a lot of federal support and guidance. In March 2026, the Government of Canada, through Build Canada Homes, and the Province of New Brunswick partnered to deliver affordable housing. This partnership is accelerating the delivery of up to 1,200 shovel-ready affordable homes, again with the potential to scale that to 1,500 homes. There are land constraints to be considered as well. Build Canada Homes and New Brunswick are each contributing up to $150 million toward the project. We can see the collaboration. It would be great to have more of it in this place. Together, New Brunswick and Build Canada Homes are working to attract additional municipal, private and philanthropic partners to expand toward a 1,500-home target. At least half of those homes would serve lower-income Canadians, and a minimum of 160 homes would provide supportive and transitional housing. Approximately 30% of those, up to 450 homes, would be smaller and in rural centres, which is so critical. Small numbers are not small potatoes, because those homes matter to every single family. In January 2023, the Government of Canada, the Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. signed an agreement in principle that will deliver up to 750 much-needed homes across the territory. That is a lot of homes in the Arctic. This will be public, affordable and supportive housing. Through this agreement, Build Canada Homes would again provide a matching investment with the Government of Nunavut. As part of this partnership, approximately 30% of the units would be built off-site to incorporate modern methods of construction. This will streamline building processes and help accelerate the delivery of housing, making the most of the short construction season in the north while keeping costs down. Those first units are expected to be completed soon. Pacd Homes, in my riding of Guelph, has designed homes that can be flat-packed and shipped. They can be assembled in a matter of weeks. This kind of innovation is a game changer. In Nova Scotia, Build Canada Homes has secured something that is close to my heart. It would develop 1,430 new affordable homes. That includes 500 units of non-profit and community housing from the province's housing pipeline. Of those, 300 units would be built in Shannon Park, where I went to junior high. That includes supportive and/or transitional housing and public housing. I do not know about Nova Scotia, but in Ontario, there has been an absolute dearth of investment in social housing. We need it badly. We need supportive housing badly, and this government is moving to create it. Through Build Canada Homes, all levels of government would come together to address this housing crisis. We would increase the supply of affordable housing and reduce barriers to construction through a structured and collaborative approach. With private, public and government partners showing up at the table, we would get homes built. We would grow and strengthen partnerships because it is an integral aspect of building homes for Canadians. This legislation would allow Build Canada Homes to operate at arm's length from the government, manage assets, deploy innovative financial tools and make long-term investment decisions more efficiently. This is the power of partnership: implementing transformative change. We are working together to build a strong and more unified approach to truly affordable housing across this country.

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“I want to cheer for the Build Canada Homes act. The government should spend more money on affordable homes for Canadians. I want the government to take a new approach because the old ways aren't working. I want to spend more money to get faster results.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, it is wonderful to have an opportunity to speak again in support of the Build Canada Homes act. This landmark legislation would establish Build Canada Homes as a Crown corporation dedicated to building and expanding the supply of affordable homes for Canadians, truly affordable homes pegged to one's income. We are in a housing crisis. On that, we all agree. Federal efforts to date have been spread across multiple departments and agencies and programs. This limits the government's ability to have maximum impact. Traditional construction and funding approaches are not delivering the scale or speed Canadians need, which is why we are taking this new, consolidated approach. Of course, all Canadians deserve an affordable place to call home, but doing it the same way we have been doing it for generations—

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“I want to cheer for a program that spends money in my riding.”

“I'm filling time with kind words and saying nothing anyone could pin down later. I hope the government spends a lot of money on housing in my riding. That would really make me look good.”

Official Hansard

Madam Speaker, the minister just answered the question I was going to ask about how this structure actually clarifies the housing spectrum of non-market and market, and how the Canada Lands Company comes in, and so how this new structure will function in a way that is much, much better for proponents. Instead, I will ask the minister about the following. I know the proponents in my riding are going to provide housing for seniors with mental health issues. These are non-market housing units. They are going to get to functional zero in terms of youth homelessness. Minister, what has the response been in the community to Build Canada Homes? What kind of response are you seeing from proponents in the non-profit housing sector?

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Government Orders

2026-06-04

“I want the other party to vote for this bill. Partisanship is bad when you do it. Our committee studied the bill a lot. We made the bill stronger with amendments. The courts decide if the bill is constitutional. You should all vote for this bill.”

“I agree with my party. Everybody should support our bill. Don't look too closely at the details. We all want to protect people. I'm going to talk about other bills we supported to make us look good.”

“I'm saying something nice about everyone working together. The feds and provinces need to pass this bill and then spend money on courts. But that won't actually fix delays, because some people will still abuse the system no matter what. I'm saying we'll be united in blaming them.”

“We need to pass this bill. It will do many good things for Canadians. It will protect victims of intimate partner violence and sexual violence. It will make the justice system work better and faster for victims and survivors. It will address court delays. It will be one of the most significant updates to Canada's criminal justice system in generations. That's all you need to know.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, every day, we hear news stories about how widespread and devastating intimate partner and sexual violence is in Canada. Frequently in the House, members stand to talk about a tragedy that has occurred in their community. According to the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability, 147 women and girls were killed in Canada in 2025 in cases classified as femicide. That is one woman every two days. At December 6 vigils in my community, we read the names of the women killed in Ontario and we hear their stories. These are not isolated incidents or private matters; they are part of a systemic crisis with costs in our homes, in our schools, in our communities, in our court systems, in this place and across Canada. About one in three police-reported violent incidents involves intimate partner violence, and we know that is the tip of the iceberg, because the last thing somebody wants to do in the worst moment of their life is pick up the phone, call the police and have the cars outside with maybe kids in the house. In Ontario, nearly 100 municipalities have declared intimate partner violence an epidemic. I am proud to say Guelph is one of them. A recent report shows that sexual violence costs nearly $15 billion every year in Canada. Members can think about the lost wages of the victims and the costs of the lawyers, the counselling, the investigation, the courts, all of it, not to mention the deep social costs, which can last for generations through individual, family and community trauma and adverse childhood experiences. Could there be a more adverse childhood experience than sexual abuse and exploitation? Police have reported that child sexual abuse and exploitation material offending is now more than 12 times higher than it was in 2008. From prevention to prosecution and community support, we need to address this epidemic in many ways. Bill C-16 is part of the legislative solution. It is one part, but it is urgent and important progress. The protecting victims act would be one of the most significant updates to Canada's criminal justice system in generations. While broad in scope, the bill can be clearly understood through four core pillars: tackling gender-based and intimate partner violence, protecting children from predators, strengthening victims' rights and addressing court delays. Together, these reforms would modernize the Criminal Code to respond to contemporary threats, intervene earlier to prevent escalating violence and ensure that the justice system works faster and more fairly for victims and survivors. What I hear from some women is that the justice system is in service to the law and not in service to victims. The bill would take decisive action to prevent violence before it becomes lethal and reflect the gravity of modern forms of abuse. It would address femicide, coercive and controlling conduct, criminal harassment and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images, including AI-generated sexual deepfakes. We know there has been a story in the news in the last couple of days of women who have been subjected to this type of abuse. These reforms would recognize patterns of control and exploitation that often precede physical violence and would ensure they are treated seriously under the law. This means creating a new offence prohibiting coercive control, which is a pattern of coercive and controlling conduct toward an intimate partner. If people missed it, I would refer them to the remarks provided by the member for Spadina—Harbourfront, who described it very well. We need to get to a place where there is no more “awful but lawful” when it comes to controlling someone's behaviour. Let it be known that coercive control will become a crime. Bill C-16 recognizes femicide as automatic first-degree murder, and provides the following circumstances for what would be murder in the first degree, known as femicide when committed against a female person: (i) the murder is committed against an intimate partner in the context of a pattern of coercive or controlling conduct, (ii) the murder is committed in the context of sexual violence, (iii) the murder is committed in the context of human trafficking, or (iv) the murder is motivated by hate; All of these would require the courts to consider life imprisonment for manslaughter committed in those circumstances. Bill C‑16 would address criminal harassment by removing the requirement to prove that the victim subjectively feared for their safety and replacing it with a requirement to prove that the harassing conduct could reasonably be expected to cause the victim to believe that someone’s safety is threatened, removing the need for victim testimony. We have all seen news stories where a woman is not believed until it is tragically much too late. Bill C‑16 would ensure that the offence captures harassing conduct committed through modern technology as well. The scope of that is mind-blowing, from abusers who are sending messages through bank transaction memo sections to those who are monitoring people's whereabouts. With respect to the new scourge of our time, sexual deepfakes, Bill C‑16 would address those by amending the offence of “non-consensual distribution of an intimate image” to include those deepfakes. The bill would also protect children from predators. Child victims face unique vulnerabilities. Predators increasingly rely on digital tools to lure, manipulate and extort children. This includes threats to distribute images, deepfake technology and the use of explicit bestiality depictions to groom children. Let us think about that for just a minute. Current laws do not fully capture these behaviours and courts have struck down several mandatory minimum penalties for child sexual offences, creating uncertainty around sentencing and weakening deterrence. This bill would strengthen Canada's response to child sexual exploitation both online and off-line. It would update offences to reflect how predators groom, manipulate and exploit children today while reinforcing accountability and prevention. Mandatory minimum penalties would be strengthened for predators who possess or access child sexual abuse and exploitation material, including restoring more than 12 mandatory minimum penalties for a range of child sexual offences that were previously struck down by courts. We would bring them back in a way that is constitutional. We would criminalize the threat to distribute child sexual abuse material and the distribution of bestiality depictions used to groom children. That is child sextortion, which are two words that really should never, ever be said side by side. We would expand child luring and sextortion offences, and we would also create a new offence for recruiting a person under 18 to participate in criminal activity. This is particularly important in sex trafficking. We would strengthen the reporting of child sexual abuse and exploitation material by bolstering mandatory reporting and data preservation obligations for online service providers. Victims' rights also require modernization. The Canadian Victims Bill of Rights provides important protections, but many victims report difficulty accessing information, navigating procedures or having their interests reflected in decisions that affect them. Calls for clearer rights and expanded access to information have been consistent across provincial and federal reports. The bill would reinforce a victim-centred and trauma-informed justice system by enhancing the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights and improving victims' participation, protection and access to information across criminal, military and correctional systems. We would do that by affirming victims' right to be treated with respect, courtesy, compassion and fairness, which I cannot believe we have to legislate. This means that, in other contexts, we need to ensure ongoing training for the whole spectrum of people who are in victim services, from the very first point of contact to the judges who see them in court. We need to provide victims with information proactively without requiring a formal request. We would expand access to testimonial aids for victims of offences committed by an intimate partner. The bill would clarify victims' rights to present impact statements at sentencing, parole and correction stages as well as enhance disclosure of information to victims under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. Bill C‑16 would finally address court delays and strengthen system integrity. The Ottawa Citizen has reported that, in 2023 to 2024, 55% of adult criminal cases were stayed or dismissed in Ontario. Courts are struggling with serious delays. The Supreme Court's decision in R. v. Jordan established strict timelines for bringing cases to trial. While the federal government designs criminal law, the administration of justice is shared with provinces and territories, which are responsible for policing, prosecution services, court resources and provincial judges. Despite strong federal efforts to appoint judges, delays persist in many jurisdictions, including Ontario, due to resourcing pressures. These delays have resulted in cases, including sexual offences, being dismissed entirely. magine. These reforms would build a justice system that responds earlier—

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Oral Questions

Points of Order

2026-06-04

“I want to shift focus away from the real issue. Let's talk about rude words instead.”

Private Members' Business

Canada Revenue Agency Act

2026-05-28

“I think the CRA is already doing a good job. They have a lot of investigations and people are being sentenced to prison for tax evasion. The CRA already publishes convictions and gives information to the Parliamentary Budget Officer. The tax gap is not a perfect measure, but it helps us understand the health of our tax system. The CRA's actions are reducing the tax gap. This bill wants more reporting, but the CRA is already doing a lot and people can access the information.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have this opportunity to discuss Bill S-217, an act to amend the Canada Revenue Agency Act with regard to reporting on unpaid income tax. This bill would amend the Canada Revenue Agency Act to require the CRA to list all convictions for tax evasion, including international tax evasion, in its annual report. The bill also requires the CRA to include statistics on the tax gap in its annual report once every three years. Additionally, Bill S-217 specifies that the Minister of National Revenue is to provide the Parliamentary Budget Officer with data on the tax gap. Broadly defined, the tax gap is the difference between the taxes that would be paid if all obligations were fully met in all instances, and taxes that are actually paid and collected. It is not difficult to imagine that a lot of circumstances could produce a tax gap. That said, I should point out that the CRA is firmly committed to protecting the integrity and fairness of Canada's tax system. This includes cracking down on tax avoidance and tax evasion both domestically and internationally. I should also mention that CRA takes a firm stand on non-compliance. First, I would like to point out that the CRA has a robust criminal investigations program. This program investigates major cases of tax evasion, tax fraud and other serious criminal violations of tax laws. Where appropriate, the CRA's criminal investigations program refers cases to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada for potential criminal prosecution, which is extremely serious. The consequences for taxpayers who commit tax fraud or hide assets or money abroad are very serious. If convicted of tax evasion, these taxpayers must still pay the full amount of tax owed, plus interest and administrative penalties imposed by the CRA. Under the Income Tax Act, offenders could face a fine of up to 200% of the taxes evaded. In addition, they could also be sentenced to up to five years in prison. It should also be noted that a person convicted of fraud under the Criminal Code is liable in Canada to a sentence of up to 14 years in prison. Fingerprinting and restrictions on international travel are also possible consequences. However, it should be noted that all convictions related to tax evasion, including those involving tax evasion abroad, are already published via enforcement notices on the Canada.ca website. The CRA has also set up a free subscription service to raise Canadian taxpayers' awareness of CRA enforcement actions and warn them about potential fraud schemes. During the period from April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2025, the courts sentenced 49 people to prison for a total of more than 98 years. Investigations are under way, prosecutions are under way, action is being taken and people are being sentenced. That represents more than $39 million in evaded federal taxes, with a total of $24.5 million in court-imposed fines. As of March 31, 2025, the criminal investigations program, or CIP, had 200 ongoing investigations. That is a huge number of investigations. Between April 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025, the CIP also executed 86 search warrants, a 46% increase from the previous fiscal year. The CIP's computer forensics analysts seized at least 258 devices totalling more than 119 terabytes of data. I would now like to bring up a second point, namely the CRA's work on estimating Canada's tax gap. Since 2016, the CRA has had a dedicated team studying the tax gap, which supports the Government of Canada's commitment to encouraging an open and transparent discussion on tax non-compliance. Estimates of Canada's tax gap, combined with other indicators relating to compliance and non-compliance, can provide valuable insights into the overall health of our tax system. At the end of March, the CRA published Canada's second overall tax gap report for the 2014 to 2022 tax years. This edition presents the overall federal tax gap and is supported by updated estimates based on the most recent data available for the 2014 to 2022 tax years. The report provides tax gap estimates for all key components. These include personal income tax, corporate income tax, GST, HST and excise revenue. The report also includes two new subcomponents: the payment payroll gap and the excise gap on cannabis. Furthermore, it examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the federal tax gap, providing an overall picture. Importantly, this report also highlights how the CRA's compliance and collection activities are impacting the tax gap. The money recovered by the CRA puts downward pressure on the federal tax gap each year. We have the numbers in front of us, and we can compare the gross and net amounts. In tax year 2022, the gross tax gap was 16% of the federal tax revenue or $59.5 billion. However, the net tax gap would have been 9.3% of the federal tax revenue or $34.7 billion, so the CRA's compliance and collection activities resulted in a potential reduction of the overall gross tax gap by 42%, or $24.8 billion. That said, I would like to mention that the data on Canada's tax gap is also published on the Government of Canada's open data portal and is widely available. That means that this information can be accessed by the Canadian public and interested parties, such as the Parliamentary Budget Officer. Canadians can rest assured that the Government of Canada and the CRA remain committed to supporting the Parliamentary Budget Officer in carrying out her mandate. This commitment is being fulfilled with the assurance that Canadians' confidential tax information is protected in accordance with the law. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the recent appointment of Annette Ryan as the Parliamentary Budget Officer. In conclusion, the work on the tax gap provides us with a clearer picture of the health of Canada's tax system. This work encourages an open and transparent discussion on tax non-compliance. That said, it is important to note that many factors remain beyond the control of any tax administration when estimating the tax gap. Moreover, there is an international consensus that a country's tax gap will likely never reach zero. Furthermore, it is important to note that the tax gap is not a performance indicator for either the CRA or the government. It is a theoretical estimate of non-compliance with tax obligations over a given period, and this non-compliance can vary over time. As a result, the tax gap is primarily an important source of information to monitor what is happening in our tax system. One thing is certain: These efforts to address the tax gap are aimed at ensuring that everyone, individuals and corporations alike, meets their tax obligations, because taxes not only fund government services and programs, but also promote economic development in Canada through investments in the many sectors of our economy.

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Government Orders

Business of Supply

2026-05-28

“I want the government to have lots of power to boss businesses around. Canadians are scared of America. Conservatives are mean. Quebec is special. Let's talk about how Quebec needs more rules to boss people around.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, there are often times in the House when we can find common ground. I think we can all agree on the fact that a sovereign Canada, a sovereign country, has the right to make decisions on matters within its borders. If someone wants to sell something in Canada, we have the right to make safety, environmental or tax regulations. It is also a fact that Canadians want us to be self-sufficient. We are in a tariff war, as others have mentioned, and we have the right to make decisions accordingly. I am shocked that the Conservatives are calling the Americans our friends when they are imposing unfair tariffs on us. We can, however, agree on the importance of Quebec and Canadian culture. My colleague talked about a geographic injustice, but there is also the matter of the American and anglophone culture flooding in. Would my colleague not agree—

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