Finance Committee on March 19th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

MP Morantz, we don't want to put the officials in a difficult spot.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

I just find it astounding. There are 36 members of the department here—

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

The officials will answer the questions that they can.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Well, I'm asking a question: Is there anyone here who can answer a question about the carbon tax?

They're looking around, nodding. There's nodding that I see in the negative, but no one is actually speaking, Mr. Chair.

Okay. I will move on.

The Cullen commission found that there was a 5% increase in housing prices due to money laundering in British Columbia. Has the department done any analysis to determine what the effect has been on housing prices across the country?

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you, Ms. Hunt. Perhaps you could let us know your department.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Before you start, Ms. Hunt, do you know anything about the carbon tax?

[Erin Hunt, Director General, Financial Crimes and Security Division, Department of Finance]

I can confirm no: I do not know anything about the carbon tax.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Thank you. I appreciate that. That's wonderful to get an answer. Great.

Tell me about housing prices. Are they affected by money laundering?

[Erin Hunt]

Excellent. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you for the question. I've appeared in front of this committee before to explain the importance the government places on its anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regime.

Certainly, we recognize that the housing market in Canada is one where there are risks related to money laundering and terrorist financing. The government has taken several steps over the last several years to be able to address these risks in the housing market, including a proposal in the fall economic statement of 2023 to capture title insurers and incorporate them into our anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regime, as well as to enhance the obligations of participants, in order to make sure we're verifying the identity of unrepresented parties in a transaction.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Thank you, Ms. Hunt.

Because I have limited time, this is a fairly simple question. If you don't have this data, feel free to say you don't have it.

Does the department have any data that would show that money laundering has caused housing prices to increase across the country, just like the Cullen report found in Vancouver?

[Erin Hunt]

There was the Cullen report. Another study in British Columbia also identified this as a risk.

I think there's a general understanding that it's difficult to quantify the potential effect this would have, but there are effects of money laundering in the real estate sector, yes.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Therefore, there is an effect on housing prices.

In the time I have left, I have a question for the Criminal Code lady. Which one is she?

There you are. It's still okay to say the word “lady”, I think.

Mrs. Cassidy, why are there amendments to the Criminal Code in a budget bill?

[Erin Cassidy, Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice]

As my colleague from the Department of Finance indicated, the government maintains a high priority on its anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regime. That regime, which is led by the Department of Finance, includes representatives from various departments and agencies, including the Department of Justice.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

I'm down to my last 30 seconds. I'm very sorry.

These are amendments to the Criminal Code. The last time I recall this happening, it was to cut a deal for SNC-Lavalin by bringing in amendments to the Criminal Code in a budget bill that would provide them with an ability to have their prosecutions deferred. Therefore, pardon me if I'm a little suspicious of amending the Criminal Code in the context of a budget bill.

I'm asking this again: Shouldn't this be something implemented separately in a bill and considered at the justice committee, not the finance committee?

[Erin Cassidy]

Thank you for your question.

The decision regarding what is included in a finance bill, a budget bill or a fall economic statement bill is made by the deputy prime minister and the prime minister.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you, MP Morantz.

Now we'll go to MP Thompson for six minutes.

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Thank you.

Welcome to committee.

I'm going to switch and speak about bereavement and pregnancy loss, if I could. I'm not sure which team it is for this shift.

Clearly, this is very important to many people. Certainly, having experienced both, I was very grateful to see some of the changes.

Could you discuss how the changes in Bill C-59 better support parents with parental benefits not available to those who experience pregnancy loss, what the current leave options are, and what benefits they're currently using in place of the specific pregnancy loss benefit?

[Douglas Wolfe, Senior Director, Strategic Policy and Legislative Reform, Analysis and Workplace Information Directorate, Labour Program, Department of Employment and Social Development]

Good morning, everyone.

Thank you for the question. It's musical chairs this morning, but I'll try to answer the question.

The Government of Canada is committed to protecting and supporting the mental and physical health of workers. Dealing with pregnancy loss can be extremely challenging, and individuals who experience it often need time away from work to support their recovery.

To better support federally regulated private sector employees during this difficult time, the government is proposing changes to the Canada Labour Code to provide three days of paid leave following a pregnancy loss. In the event of a stillbirth, employees would be entitled to prolong their leave for a period of eight weeks without pay.

The new leave will provide workers with greater job and income security while they recover. It will be available to the individual who is pregnant, the spouse or common-law partner, and any person who intended to be the legal parent of the child, including the biological parent and parents who were planning to have a child through adoption or surrogacy. The leave will be available to individuals who are employed in a federally regulated private sector workplace.

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Thank you.

I want to capture one of the points you reference.

What was the basis for the definition of “stillbirth”?

[Douglas Wolfe]

This was a subject that was passed in Bill C-3, as you may recall. That bill received royal assent in 2021. What is here is aligned with Bill C-3, which was never brought into force. All the provisions were exactly aligned with that bill.

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Thank you. I personally was very pleased to see that there.

Leave related to pregnancy loss and bereavement leave are similar to changes proposed and adopted by New Zealand a few years ago. How have New Zealand parents benefited from this? Are you able to speak to that?

As well, are there similar shifts in other jurisdictions that have made differences for families in their time of truly great loss?

[Douglas Wolfe]

Certainly a number of jurisdictions, including a number of provinces in Canada, have made similar changes. What we see is that many, many parents or would-be parents have benefited from the leave. Pregnancy loss is certainly something that affects many, many individuals. Having a number of days for them to rest and recover is seen as critical.

I think this is why the government put forward this perspective.

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Thank you. I think it's incredibly important.

I don't know if you are able to speak to adoption leave.

[Douglas Wolfe]

Actually, we have others who could come up and speak on adoption leave.