Philip Toone

[Canadian Museum of History Act, June 17th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his very interesting speech and for the excellent work he is doing in his riding of Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques.

The issue of changing the name of this world renowned museum is of course a concern. From a commercial standpoint, the name is an invaluable and profitable brand. This museum is quite simply known around the world. A change to its name risks reducing attendance.

As my colleague said, this is a very popular museum about which we had heard nothing regarding a name change. My constituents definitely never phoned me, even once, to ask that its name be changed.

Does my colleague think that changing the museum's name could have an impact on attendance?

I would also like him to talk about the changes to the museum's mission. For example, instead of operating across Canada and internationally, the new museum will target only Canada.

[Petitions, June 14th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am also pleased to present a petition signed by hundreds of people in my riding who are calling for a reversal of the unilateral decision, without any consultation, to eliminate all winter activities at Forillon National Park. They are asking the government to restore funding and to rehire all staff so that the park can fulfill its mandate to provide service to the people of Gaspé and Canada all year round.

[Petitions, June 14th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, today I have the pleasure of presenting three petitions.

The first petition is signed by hundreds of people who oppose the employment insurance reform. They are asking the government to scrap all of the changes announced since Bill C-38 was introduced.

[Ethics, June 14th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I will repeat that the Prime Minister's Office is currently under criminal investigation. The Conservative Party and its ministers have to start answering questions seriously.

Has another PMO staffer, such as current chief of staff Ray Novak or anyone else, talked to an investigator about the criminal investigation into the $90,000 cheque that Nigel Wright gave to Senator Mike Duffy?

[Ethics, June 14th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's Office is under criminal investigation. It is time to take this seriously and answer questions.

Has the Prime Minister spoken to a criminal investigator about this file?

[Ethics, June 14th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, when was the Prime Minister informed that his former right-hand man, Nigel Wright, was the subject of a criminal investigation?

[Tax Conventions Implementation Act, 2013, June 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his interesting remarks. However, they were sometimes difficult to follow. It is hard to know whether the information was 100% reliable.

For instance, he said:

Those who participate in tax evasion are very creative.

I would like to point out that Paul Martin himself was perhaps a little too creative when it came to tax evasion. Representatives of his family business, Canada Steamship Lines, were repeatedly criticized for failing to pay their fair share when they created subsidiaries in Barbados, for example. Barbados is a known tax haven.

Frankly, it is pretty hard for us to understand how the Liberal Party can tell us that, on the one hand, it spent up to $150 million to fight tax evasion, while on the other hand, the prime minister of the day owned a business that seemed to be evading taxes. I am having a very hard time understanding my Liberal colleague's logic.

If Canada Steamship Lines, which has subsidiaries in Barbados, did not pay its fair share in either Canada or Barbados, how is it that the Government of Canada spent $161 million on contracts with Canada Steamship Lines and its subsidiaries until 2004, the last year for which I have statistics, yet Canada Steamship Lines did not pay its fair share of taxes?

I am having a very hard time understanding my Liberal colleague's point. I would like him to explain Paul Martin's tax evasion.

[Tax Conventions Implementation Act, 2013, June 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Victoria.

I know that he works very hard in his riding, and I am sure that his constituents greatly appreciate the fine job he does representing them in the House of Commons. His comments on fiscal issues are second to none.

Today being Tax Freedom Day, the member has made it very clear that when it comes to overseas tax evaders everyday is Tax Freedom Day. The government has a lot to be reproached about for making it possible for Canadians to celebrate Tax Freedom Day today, but it is not talking about everyone else who is evading paying their taxes. This day could actually come much more quickly than what the government leads us to believe.

We need to work a lot harder at this. The member's speech made it clear that there were a lot of things we could do that could lead to much better tax fairness in the country.

Just today, Canadians for Tax Fairness indicated that Statistics Canada surveys have indicated that overseas Canadians are putting away in the 12 biggest tax havens in the world over $170 billion worth of revenue that the government could be taxing. I wonder if the member could speak more to the fact that perhaps the government is unaware that all of this money is available.

What makes the Conservative government so slow at reacting to this when we know this money should be taxed in order to pay for the services Canadians deserve?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, June 10th, 2013]

With regard to the commercial wharves in the province of Quebec and the Atlantic provinces: (a) what commercial wharves are in operation today, broken down by (i) province, (ii) riding, (iii) municipality; (b) of the wharves mentioned in (a), what are the estimated repair costs, broken down by (i) province, (ii) riding, (iii) municipality, (iv) wharf; and (c) of the wharves mentioned in (a), what are the estimated maintenance costs, broken down by (i) province, (ii) riding, (iii) municipality, (iv) wharf?

[Petitions, June 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to present a petition signed by several thousand people from my riding, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, who oppose the employment insurance reforms in Bill C-38.

The petition condemns the reform and calls on the Conservatives to cancel it and undertake consultations if they ever want to start another employment insurance reform process. They should start by talking to people. Then their reforms should be based on the needs of people in the regions, not faulty reasoning.