Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has resolved a substantial unpaid tax debt in the five-figure range..As a cabinet member, Guilbeault receives an annual salary of $287,400 and a $2,000 car allowance..“I no longer have arrears due Revenu Québec,” wrote Guilbeault in a notice filed with the Office of the Ethics Commissioner. .According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Guilbeault did not specify the amount he paid or whether penalties were applied. .However, Guilbeault had revealed two years ago that he had a significant unpaid tax bill, which he disclosed under the Public Declaration of Liabilities of $10,000 or More..Guilbeault was the sole member of the cabinet and the only MP in Parliament with outstanding tax debts..“He has not been paying his fair share,” Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus (Charlesbourgh-Haute St. Charles, QC) said at the time. .“This is typical.”.Guilbeault “needs to come clean and tell Canadians how much he owes in taxes,” said Paul-Hus. .The Minister should “pay his fair share like all other Canadian families,” Paul-Hus said..In repeated remarks to the Commons, Guilbeault said corporations must “pay their fair share” of taxes. .“Anyone who profits from the system must contribute to it,” Guilbeault told MPs in 2019..In her testimony before the Commons Finance committee in 2021, then-Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier emphasized that all Canadians have a shared responsibility to pay taxes to support government programs..“We are all committed to making things much more difficult for those who choose not to meet their tax obligations,” said Lebouthillier..“I am proud to say the Government of Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency have shown determination and innovation in creating effective and proactive approaches to identifying those who avoid paying their fair share,” said Lebouthillier..Other political parties have also taken disciplinary actions against MPs with tax arrears. In 2013, the New Democratic Party censured two members who had not paid their taxes..Former MP Tyrone Benskin (Jeanne-Le Ber, QC) lost his role as official languages critic due to a $58,097 tax debt. Additionally, Benskin had previously been sued by Revenu Québec for a $135,473 tax liability..“For our society to be prosperous and just, each citizen must do their part,” Benskin said at the time. .“I have not always done mine and for that, I apologize.”.In 2013, then-New Democrat MP Hoang Mai (Brossard-La Prairie, QC) lost his position as vice-chair of the Commons Finance committee and a $5,600 bonus due to unpaid taxes. He was not re-elected in 2015.
