Evidence of meeting #33 for Finance in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was infrastructure.
A recording is available from Parliament.
6:10 p.m.
Bloc
Pierre Paquette Bloc Joliette, QC
Thank you for your answer and for those clarifications.
Ms. Chisholm, there is a rumour -- which I heard about this morning -- that the CMHC could be privatized. In your view, would privatization be in the interests of people in need of affordable and social housing? Have you heard anything about this, and what is your first reaction to it?
6:10 p.m.
Executive Director, Canadian Housing and Renewal Association
Like the rest of you, I read the Globe and Mail this morning, so that's as much as I know about this issue.
I would have to say that needing a national, federal housing policy means we need to have some kind of way of coordinating that. It has to be rested somewhere. There could be some decisions at some point, in that you want to bring housing more in line with infrastructure or cities or whatever, but you can't let go of housing totally. So I would definitely support keeping an institution in place that can coordinate the work that's done at a national level.
I understand that there are two different parts to the portfolio, but I'm really speaking to the area of our concern, which is around the social housing and the research end of CMHC's work, which is very important.
6:10 p.m.
Bloc
Pierre Paquette Bloc Joliette, QC
Thank you.
Mr. Yakabuski, I was rather surprised to read that the property and casualty insurance industries first proposal is that debt reduction remain a priority. In Canada, our debt-to-GDP ratio is now the lowest. Also, you are asking the government to move ahead with tax cuts. You are also asking that there be investments in infrastructure. It seems to me that we have reached the stage where the priority should be something other than paying down on the debt. I was very surprised to see that it was the first sentence in your brief.
6:10 p.m.
Vice-President, Government Relations, Ottawa and General Manager, Insurance Bureau of Canada
I believe that everything...
6:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Brian Pallister
Excuse me, Monsieur, but the member has utilized all the time with his preamble.
We'll continue with Mr. Del Mastro, for five minutes.
6:15 p.m.
Conservative
Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to start by saying that I'm confused by some of the comments from the table today. I could have sworn the announcements—the one Ms. Chisholm actually regarded as the announcement they had been waiting for—was in Budget 2006, announced by the Honourable James Flaherty and supported by this side of the table but not supported by two of the groups on the other side of the table, even though they're taking credit for it, along with measures to reduce taxes for 655,000 low-income Canadians, money for transit, and so forth. Those were things that were important to the Conservative Government of Canada.
I wanted to ask a question of you, Mr. Yakabuski. You mentioned targeted tax cuts, corporate tax cuts, as a measure to increase investment, and that investment is so important to the Canadian economy. You talked about it in the light of keeping insurance costs low, but it also means a lot with respect to employment and the development of resources, doesn't it?
6:15 p.m.
Vice-President, Government Relations, Ottawa and General Manager, Insurance Bureau of Canada
Absolutely. We can't fool ourselves, we live in a very international economy. Many of our industries depend on foreign investment, not just if you're a financial institution, but to be properly capitalized. If you're a manufacturer, you need to have the latest technology at your disposition. None of this falls from the sky. There are people who make decisions every day of the week and decide that Canada is a good place to do business and this is the kind of industry I want to put my dollars into. They are absolutely affected by the tax regime, so we need a competitive regime in Canada.
We absolutely need a competitive tax regime that allows the economy to generate new jobs. That's the way you're going to pay your bills as the federal government. That's the way you're going to be able to invest modestly in additional infrastructure spending. That's the way you're going to be able to protect Canada against natural disasters. But none of this is going to happen if we don't have a competitive tax regime that creates jobs in Canada and gives the Parliament of Canada the money that you can direct accordingly.
6:15 p.m.
Conservative
Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON
And strong signals, like the record debt reduction payment we made a few weeks ago, also encourage foreign investors.
6:15 p.m.
Vice-President, Government Relations, Ottawa and General Manager, Insurance Bureau of Canada
There's no doubt about that. I mean, interest rates are a very important component of why people do or do not invest. And a signal that Canada is keeping its debt-to-GDP ratio under control, and is in fact reducing it, has to send a positive signal to these people. It's not the only signal. I think reducing our combined tax rate is very significant, but we can't lose sight of any of these factors.
6:15 p.m.
Conservative
Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON
Thank you.
Mr. Van Every, I thought slot machines at the racetracks were what basically brought the industry into this century. I thought racetracks were doing very well. I thought the Ontario Jockey Club, for example, was doing very well. You came and painted quite a different picture. Am I getting the wrong picture when I see what's going on at Ontario's racetracks?
6:15 p.m.
Chair, Horse Racing Tax Alliance of Canada
No. Slot revenue certainly has helped the purse structure for horse owners. It hasn't pushed itself down to the breeding organizations, and it hasn't provided, still, enough revenue to cover the costs incurred by the owners.
6:15 p.m.
Conservative
Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON
Maybe, considering how the industry had declined until that revenue came in--
6:15 p.m.
Chair, Horse Racing Tax Alliance of Canada
Absolutely, absolutely. It saved the industry, because we were in really desperate shape five, six, seven years ago. So it has managed to allow the industry to survive to this point.
6:15 p.m.
Conservative
Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON
Thank you.
Chief Warden, we had the International Association of Fire Fighters--I think that's their name--who came in and made a couple of specific asks. One of the things they were looking for was $500,000 a year for hazardous material training. Can you talk a little bit about that and whether you think that would be a worthy investment for the Government of Canada?
6:15 p.m.
Fire Chief, Wasaga Beach, Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs
Yes, I certainly support that initiative. It has been proven that the emergency responders in today's world are not equipped or trained properly to ascertain and do the job they have to do when it comes to USAR or CBRN. That money would be well spent by the government to ensure that all first responders in Canada are trained and equipped to a certain level, so that they can in fact protect the people and the structures as necessary.
Not only that, but under the mutual aid system, if you're called in to help your neighbour, if everybody is trained and equipped to the minimum level, to the same level, then we can all work together to help mitigate the situation in a quicker, more responsible manner. It's certainly a very worthwhile request. And I would urge you to certainly support that and make sure the money goes down to the municipalities and to the first responders, and that it doesn't get lost as it goes down in the process, as it has in the past. It has to get to the first responders who are actually going to the scene and doing the work.
6:20 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Brian Pallister
Thank you, sir.
We'll continue with Mr. Pacetti now for five minutes.
6:20 p.m.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you to all the witnesses for the interesting presentations. We obviously don't have enough time to go around the table, but I have a couple of questions.
My first question is for Ms. Bell. Basically, your first request, in your executive summary, is for natural health products to qualify for medical expense deductions. How do you define a natural health product? At what point do you determine that it will be deductible? How do we recommend this?
6:20 p.m.
President, Canadian Health Food Association
The easy administration of this would be for natural health products to have natural health product numbers on them, or a DIN-HM number, which is a homeopathic number. It would be easy to monitor the purchase of them.
6:20 p.m.
Liberal
6:20 p.m.
President, Canadian Health Food Association
The numbers are currently being issued by Health Canada.
6:20 p.m.
Liberal
6:20 p.m.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
That was going to be my next question. So the industry is already regulated as is, and it's all done through Health Canada. Then you were asking for more money for research.
6:20 p.m.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
How is that tied in as well? Is there money coming from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research as well?