SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 187 - Apr/28/23

Mr. Alistair MacGregor (Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, NDP)

Apr/28/23 10:27:51 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague very clearly outlined the problems and what more needs to be done, especially by Canada and the international community, about the sheer amount of wealth we lose out on every year to tax evasion and dirty money funnelling through the system. One of the parts in the bill to ensure compliance is a $5,000 penalty for corporations and up to $200,000 for individuals. I respect the fact that the legislation is trying to uncover the identity of the individual, but what does the member think about the paltry $5,000 fine for corporations? We know there are lots of avenues open to people to hide their wealth in corporate structures. Does he think that this particular financial penalty may need to be looked at and perhaps stiffened to ensure better compliance with the legislation?

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Context: House Hansard - 187 - Apr/28/23

Mr. Alistair MacGregor (Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, NDP)

Apr/28/23 10:44:23 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I really appreciated my colleague's remarks regarding the Conservatives' crusade against carbon pricing, because he is right. If we were to get rid of carbon pricing tomorrow, it would do nothing to change the structural deficit that exists in our economy and the fact that we have a system today where 40% of Canadians control 1% of the wealth, and 1% of Canadians control 40% of the wealth. There has been a massive hoovering of wealth from a large group of Canadians to a very small group. That is why we need a beneficial registry; we need to see who is benefiting from these obscene amounts of wealth. Over the decades that this has been occurring, what has that structural deficit led to? What could Canada of today have been had we tackled these problems several decades ago? What does that mean to people's overall health, their well-being and their ability to access services? This is the structural problem that is fundamental to our policy direction today.

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Context: House Hansard - 187 - Apr/28/23

Mr. Alistair MacGregor (Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, NDP)

Apr/28/23 12:07:20 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce and sport fishers in my community are really frustrated. Starting July 15, Fisheries and Oceans Canada will close a prime chinook fishing spot off the coast of southwest Vancouver Island without doing sufficient consultation with locals or first nations. These hard-working people rely on this fishing spot to earn their income and support their families. Why is the minister yet again ignoring coastal communities and their expertise?

76 words

Context: House Hansard - 187 - Apr/28/23

Mr. Alistair MacGregor (Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, NDP)

Apr/28/23 1:23:28 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-42

Madam Speaker, if the member for Winnipeg North wants to see the bill proceed faster, maybe the government should not schedule it for Friday sittings. That is just my opinion. There is an offence and punishment section in Bill C-42. It lists that corporations found guilty of an offence can be liable for a fine not exceeding $5,000. The punishment for individuals can be as high as $200,000. Of course, the whole purpose of this bill is to uncover individuals who may be using corporate entities to hide themselves. That being said, does the hon. member think $5,000 is a sufficient deterrent to prevent corporations from doing this, or would he see value in maybe increasing it to make it commensurate with the offence of the transgression?

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