Evidence of meeting #6 for Finance in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was students.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Pierre Le François  General Director, Association nationale des éditeurs de livres
Claire Morris  President and Chief Executive Officer, Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
Darryl Smith  President, Canadian Dental Association
Bob Harvey  Member, Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee, Certified General Accountants Association of Canada
David Bradley  Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Trucking Alliance
Pierre Sadik  Senior Policy Advisor, Sustainability Specialist, David Suzuki Foundation
Nathalie Bourque  Vice-President, Global Communications, CAE Inc., SR & ED Tax Credit Coalition
Peter Look  Vice-President, Tax, Nortel, SR & ED Tax Credit Coalition
Carole Presseault  Vice-President, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Certified General Accountants Association of Canada
Susan Mullin  Vice-President of Development, Association of Fundraising Professionals
Margaret Lefebvre  Executive Director, Canadian Association of Income Funds
Chris Tabor  Manager, Queen's University Bookstore, Canadian Booksellers Association
Michael Atkinson  President, Canadian Construction Association
Gerry Barr  President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Council for International Cooperation
Amanda Aziz  National Chairperson, Canadian Federation of Students
Mark Yakabuski  President and Chief Executive Officer, Insurance Bureau of Canada

6:05 p.m.

NDP

Thomas Mulcair NDP Outremont, QC

Thank you very much.

6:05 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield

Thank you very much.

We'll now move on to Mr. Turner. You have five minutes.

6:05 p.m.

Liberal

Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON

Thank you very much.

Mr. Tabor, you referenced the Minister of Finance and Harry Potter. That famous press conference the Minister of Finance gave, holding up the Harry Potter book, was that helpful to the industry?

6:05 p.m.

Manager, Queen's University Bookstore, Canadian Booksellers Association

Chris Tabor

Not particularly.

6:10 p.m.

Liberal

Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON

Why?

6:10 p.m.

Manager, Queen's University Bookstore, Canadian Booksellers Association

Chris Tabor

It avoided exposing some of the real causes of the differential in the pricing, that they can get lost between retailers. But a structural problem was missed, and that is the imposition of a tariff, if you will, on the importation of books from the U.S. into Canada.

6:10 p.m.

Liberal

Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON

Do you believe the minister raised consumer expectations that prices in the book publishing industry should fall? Was he almost making a demand, as the Minister of Finance?

6:10 p.m.

Manager, Queen's University Bookstore, Canadian Booksellers Association

Chris Tabor

I think the minister was trying to encourage...he perhaps misunderstood some of the mechanics of our industry, that there is a lag between currency conversions.

6:10 p.m.

Liberal

Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON

What do you think he was trying to do? Why did he have the press conference, though?

Maybe he didn't understand the industry, but he must have had a reason for having the media conference. What do you think that was?

6:10 p.m.

Manager, Queen's University Bookstore, Canadian Booksellers Association

Chris Tabor

I think he was looking for an explanation for the differential in retail prices between the same products in Canada and the U.S.

6:10 p.m.

Liberal

Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON

Okay, but that's not why he had the press conference. He didn't have the press conference to look for the reasons.

My--

6:10 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield

I don't mind any question being asked as long as witnesses have the ability to answer, and that's a very subjective question, so give him a more direct question and that's fine.

6:10 p.m.

Liberal

Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON

Mr. Chairman, you've got nothing to say about it. I'm sorry, but this is my five minutes.

6:10 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield

I just did.

You just continue, please.

6:10 p.m.

Liberal

Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON

That did not come out of my time, by the way.

Mr. Yakabuski, you talked about the need for us to be ready for climate change, almost as if it were an inevitability. Do you feel Canada is doing nothing to stem the inevitable change in climate?

And do you have a comment on the Prime Minister's position in Uganda this past weekend?

6:10 p.m.

President and Chief Executive Officer, Insurance Bureau of Canada

Mark Yakabuski

I have said in the past there is no such thing as a serious climate change policy that does not have a plan to adapt to climate change. I think the reality is that most countries, most jurisdictions, have missed the ballgame so far. I want to make sure Canada doesn't. I think the real challenge is to recognize that, yes, climate change and the severe weather that comes with it are inevitable, and we want to be the country that best adapts to this.

6:10 p.m.

Liberal

Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON

Have we done anything to prepare? Are we taking a leadership role in this particular file or are we not?

6:10 p.m.

President and Chief Executive Officer, Insurance Bureau of Canada

Mark Yakabuski

I'm suggesting ways we can take a leadership role.

6:10 p.m.

Liberal

Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON

But are we, in your opinion?

6:10 p.m.

President and Chief Executive Officer, Insurance Bureau of Canada

Mark Yakabuski

There's a lot of work to be done. I think that's clear.

6:10 p.m.

Liberal

Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON

All right.

Ms. Lefebvre, your testimony certainly is damning the consequences that have happened with income trusts since the end of October of last year. Do you believe the Minister of Finance knew what the consequences would be, or do you think these were unintended consequences he didn't foresee?

6:10 p.m.

Executive Director, Canadian Association of Income Funds

Margaret Lefebvre

We have maintained from the very beginning that these were unintended consequences.

The minister acted, I'm sure, in what he considered to be good faith to a problem that was obvious at the time, and probably out of a sense of some degree of panic about the possible conversion on a mass scale of too many private corporations. However, the difference between reacting to that particular situation and the draconian measure that was taken is one that has effectively caused the destruction of the income trusts. I don't believe he realized at the time that this would be the consequence.

6:10 p.m.

Liberal

Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON

It appears now, a year and a bit later, that what he was afraid of has been far surpassed by the actual negative consequences of the action that was taken.

Have you had any further dealings with the Department of Finance or with the minister? Has anyone called you up and said “I'm sorry”?

6:10 p.m.

Executive Director, Canadian Association of Income Funds

Margaret Lefebvre

That's not a serious question.

6:10 p.m.

Liberal

Garth Turner Liberal Halton, ON

I wouldn't mind having it on the record.