Evidence of meeting #52 for Finance in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was infrastructure.
A video is available from Parliament.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Thank you very much.
Here is a question on skills and training. You, the Chamber of Commerce, have stated as an organization that we need to invest and work with provinces to improve skills, training, and life-long learning opportunities for Canadian workers.
4:10 p.m.
Senior Director, Economic, Financial and Tax Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Yes, absolutely
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
4:10 p.m.
Senior Economist, Social and Economic Policy, Canadian Labour Congress
We agree that there should be more investment in workers' training. We think that very often, when employers say there is a skills shortage, what they mean is that there is an experience shortage: workers don't have the on-the-job experience they're looking for or skills very specific to that firm. We're also looking at mentorship programs or programs that would give workers on-the-job experience with employers.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Do you agree, Ms. Pohlmann, that we need better labour market data than we're working with right now and that we need to invest as a government in better labour market data?
4:10 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, National Affairs, Canadian Federation of Independent Business
Yes. It would be great to understand a lot better where the skill gaps are and what we need to do to invest in them, and it would definitely be helpful to have more information available to us.
4:10 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, Grocery Division and Government Relations, Retail Council of Canada
Yes. In the retail community we see a variety of types of jobs, very specific ones involving members such as bakers and meat cutters, to use a couple of grocery examples. So yes, we would agree with that.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
We've heard from the employers and from the labour perspective. Ms. MacEwen, do you feel that we should have better labour market data and that this would benefit your members?
4:10 p.m.
Senior Economist, Social and Economic Policy, Canadian Labour Congress
Yes, absolutely that would benefit our members. It would benefit all workers who are looking to invest in their own skills and employers who are looking to hire and grow their business out in the future.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Thank you very much.
Here is a question on the tariffs, Mr. Wilkes. You cited a $79 million reduction in certain tariffs. Did the same budget implementation act not also increase tariffs on goods from China, as a result of those—?
4:15 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, Grocery Division and Government Relations, Retail Council of Canada
Yes.
I'm sorry for the interruption.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
4:15 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, Grocery Division and Government Relations, Retail Council of Canada
The reduction was $79 million, as you indicated. The Department of Finance has indicated that the change from GPT to MFN, which I referred to in my opening remarks, would result in an additional $333 million in revenue being collected. Those changes come into effect on January 1 of the coming year, 2015.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Thank you.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer has told us that unnecessarily high EI taxes over the next two years will cost 10,000 jobs from the Canadian economy. Is that consistent with what you're hearing from your members about the impact on jobs in this soft job market?
I'm asking the groups representing employers here.
4:15 p.m.
Senior Director, Economic, Financial and Tax Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Absolutely. Payroll taxes are the most harmful types of taxes. As Corinne pointed out, it's those for which it doesn't matter how much income you have; it's just a tax on jobs.
4:15 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, National Affairs, Canadian Federation of Independent Business
I absolutely would agree.
4:15 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, Grocery Division and Government Relations, Retail Council of Canada
Yes. Any time you tax a job, it is a difficult balance to achieve.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Thank you.
Here is a question to the Green Budget Coalition. What impact have government cuts had on addressing Canada's environmental responsibilities and on the creation of a greener economy and opportunities therein?
4:15 p.m.
Manager, Green Budget Coalition
I can't offer you specific numbers. I can tell you that a reinvestment in protecting Canada's environment would be very important to protecting Canada's environment but also to creating jobs. And those kinds of jobs can be the best for Canadians, because protecting nature is the kind of work that often gets done in local, rural communities and creates jobs often in areas that need employment. Those pieces can be important.
And a reinvestment in science, in terms of mapping the conservation values we have across Canada—and we have those kinds of capacities in various departments, but linking them together—could play a really important role in building our science capacity.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Thank you.
Mr. Wilkes and Ms. Pohlmann, we're told by people in retail and small business that the voluntary approach regarding credit card fees isn't working. Should we be adopting a compulsory approach, or a cap approach similar to Australia's? Has the time for evaluation passed, and should we be acting at this point?
4:15 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, Grocery Division and Government Relations, Retail Council of Canada
We know this is a very active file that the Department of Finance is looking at. I won't prejudge the outcome of those discussions. We are supportive of the commitment to reduce acceptance costs for merchants, and we do believe there is lots of international experience that suggests they can be brought down significantly. But we will wait and hold our judgement based on the outcome of the discussions.
4:15 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, National Affairs, Canadian Federation of Independent Business
I would say that we're always very cautious of the cap approach because we've seen some of the outcomes of that in other countries as well, where we see other prices going up, whether it be bank service fees or bank charges, so we have to be very cautious about that if we go that route. We also are waiting to see what happens, but I can tell you that our patience is running out as well. But at this point, we're hoping still to see something happen in the short term.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal