Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak today on Bill C-48, the technical tax amendments act of 2012. The bill proposes amendments to the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act and related legislation. It would close tax loopholes and create a fairer tax system for all Canadians.
The bill also contains proposals that have been public for quite some time, some going back the late 1990s, as well as measures that have been previously released for public consultation.
The proposals in the bill reflect the feedback the government has received from Canadians and aim to ensure that everyone pays their fair share of tax and is treated equitably under our tax laws.
After all, there are few areas where the integration between governments and citizens is more direct than with respect to taxation.
Our governments collect taxes to fund health care, social programs and other vital services for Canadian citizens. The vast majority of Canadians pay their taxes willingly and they pay them honestly. In return, they expect the government to manage their tax dollars wisely and to take no more from each taxpayer than is their fair share. Canadians can count on this Conservative government to do both.
The efficiency and fairness of the tax system should be improved on an ongoing basis by closing tax loopholes as they are identified. The bill before us would go a long way to doing this in respect.
In the 2010 Speech from the Throne, the Conservative government committed to taking aggressive steps to close tax loopholes that allow a few businesses and individuals to take advantage of hard-working Canadians who pay their fair share of tax.
By broadening and protecting the tax base, we are helping to keep Canadian tax rates competitive and low, thereby improving incentives to work, save and invest here in Canada.
In keeping with this commitment, the legislation before us today proposes to strengthen Canada's tax system by closing tax loopholes and improving fairness for all Canadian taxpayers. The bill would also make the tax system easier to comply with, which is what Canadians have been asking for.
For example, it would make changes to the Income Tax Act to better target rules relating to non-resident trusts. The bill also includes amendments to rules dealing with foreign affiliates of Canadian multinational corporations. These changes would enhance the fairness and integrity of Canada's international tax system.
The bill before us today would also line up many loose ends already contained in the tax system. Indeed, it has been over a decade since Parliament last passed a comprehensive package of technical income tax amendments. This has created a significant backlog of outstanding measures that need to be addressed to provide certainty for Canadian taxpayers.
The Auditor General of Canada has identified the backlog of technical amendments as an issue requiring pressing attention by the government. The amendments proposed in the bill address the backlog through the inclusion of outstanding income tax and sales tax amendments, the vast majority of which have already been released for open and public consultation.
The bottom line is this: the legislation would provide certainty in the application of our tax system, making it easier to comply with and administer and improving fairness for Canadian taxpayers.
Our government has great successes in creating jobs, growth and long-term prosperity. The future of this country depends in no small part upon strengthening business competitiveness. Strong economic framework policies foster competition, attract new investment and help businesses thrive and create jobs.
In Canada's economic action plan, the government has taken action to strengthen business competitiveness by promoting an open investment framework and by making fundamental changes to reduce red tape for business. By providing a strong environment for investment and reducing red tape, our government is helping to ensure that Canadian businesses have increased access to the resources required to compete in the global economy and create high-value jobs. This plan is working.
Only today, Statistics Canada announced that employment has increased in our country by over 50,000 net new jobs created in February. Even better, the unemployment rate remains at a post-recession low of 7%, the lowest level in four years.
February's strong employment gains, along with the over 950,000 net new jobs created since the depth of the global recession in July 2009—and of these, 90% are full time and 80% are in the private sector—are very positive signs that we are on the right track with Canada's economy.
What is more, unlike what others would have us believe, Canada has the strongest job growth record among every single one of the G7 countries in recent years.
Furthermore, lower Canadian tax rates play a particularly important role in supporting economic growth by enabling businesses to invest more of their revenues back into their operations. These business investments in machinery, equipment, information technology and other physical capital will boost Canada's productivity. Additional capital boosts businesses' competitiveness, encouraging firms to grow and create more better-paying jobs for Canadians, thereby raising everybody's living standard. As a result of the bold tax reduction plan passed by Parliament in 2007, Canada's tax advantage has continually improved.
The final stage of our step-by-step reduction in the federal business tax rate came into force at the beginning of 2012. It is the accumulation of a process that has seen the federal corporate income tax rate fall from over 22% in 2007 to just 15% today. This has allowed Canadian businesses and Canadians who work for those businesses to drive Canada's economic recovery and future growth.
We eliminated the capital tax at the federal level and encouraged provinces to do the same with their general capital taxes, and the provinces have agreed to do that.
These and other tax changes have allowed Canada to achieve an overall tax rate on new business investment that is lower than any other country in the G7. Indeed, the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters had this to say only this week about what our low-tax plan has meant for them. They said:
...lower corporate income taxes attract more investments and therefore have a positive result on government revenues, at all levels of government. This is good news for our economy, and I am confident our tax environment will attract more investments in the years to come.
There is great support for this government's tax plan. Nevertheless, Canada faces a fast-changing global environment with increasing competition from emerging market countries and a global economy that remains fragile and uncertain.
I assure members that our government remains committed to keeping Canada strong and prosperous by creating the right conditions to enable Canadians and Canadian businesses to feel confident and to invest, create jobs and grow our economy.
Canada's performance has been one of the most resilient amidst considerable global uncertainty. Compared to most advanced economies in the world, we are in a relatively good position. Since our government introduced Canada's economic action plan to respond to the global recession, Canada has recovered more than all the output and all the jobs lost during the recession.
We will continue to treat Canadians with the utmost fairness and respect with regard to Canada's taxation system. Canadians deserve nothing less, and that is why I call upon all parliamentarians to support Bill C-48.
